Ohio Governor John Kasich on Tuesday
became the 16th candidate to enter the Republican
presidential primary.
Kasich announced his bid during a
nearly hour-long speech inside the student union building at the Ohio
State University, his wife and 15-year-old twin daughters by his
side.
“I am here to ask you for your
prayers, for your support, for your efforts, because I have decided
to run for president of the United States,” he told a cheering
crowd.
In an interview with Fox News held
immediately after his announcement, Kasich said that the key to his
success was his “inclusive” policies.
“Once you have [economic growth] it's
a means to an end. So, I think in Ohio, there's been two things that
allowed me to be successful. A great team, that goes without saying.
But economic growth and a sense that everyone's included. It
doesn't matter who you are,” he told Sean Hannity.
Within hours after his announcement,
the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights
advocate, released a video highlighting Kasich's record on LGBT
issues.
According to the video, Kasich is
opposed to marriage equality, protecting LGBT Americans from
discrimination, and gay couples adopting children. Where Kasich
stands on bullying and therapies that attempt to alter the sexuality
of a gay person or the identity of a transgender person is not clear.
The AP points out that while Kasich
backed Ohio's ban on gay marriage, he's also urged public respect for
the Supreme Court ruling that struck down bans in all 50 states.
Ohio was directly involved in the case.
“I'm very disappointed,” he said
last month of the high court's marriage ruling. “I do believe in
the traditional sense of marriage.”