Ohio Governor John Kasich (Republican) recently cast an absentee ballot for the November election – but his choice for president came as a surprise for some when he revealed his decision to NBC News on Monday.
After Kasich mailed in his ballot on Monday, a spokesperson for the governor notified reporters, adding that Mr. Kasich did not – and by his own words could not – vote for his party’s nominee, Donald Trump
“You want to vote for someone you can support,” said Kasich spokesperson Chris Schrimpf. “He’s been clear he can’t support Trump.”
But the governor of the Buckeye State also did not vote for the other major candidate in the race, Hillary Clinton.
“He’s been equally clear he can’t support Clinton,” added Schrimpf.
Nor did Kasich vote for one of the third-party candidates offered on the Ohio state ballot.
Instead, Governor Kasich wrote in a past presidential nominee – Arizona Senator John McCain.
McCain is on the ballot this year – in his home state of Arizona, where he faces a competitive race against Democratic Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick.
Kasich, the last Republican challenger to Trump in the party’s primaries to drop out, never endorsed Trump or gave any hint of backing the party’s nominee, as Texas Senator Ted Cruz did, urging voters to prevent Hillary Clinton from winning the White House, after Cruz famously refused to endorse Trump at the party’s convention this summer.
McCain responded to the announcement, thanking Kasich for the “compliment.”
“I appreciate that my old friend and Ohio’s outstanding governor John Kasich would pay me the compliment,” Kasich told NBC News.