Governor John Kasich earned Ohio’s 66 delegates March 15 during the Ohio Primaries, the first state for the governor who plans to take his candidacy to a brokered convention this July.
The Republican field of candidates continues to narrow. From 17 last year, three now remain on the stage. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio kept his word—dropping out of the race after losing his home state to Trump.
Ohio, as a swing state is a large target for presidential candidates. Kasich and Trump both held events in Dayton the week prior to the primary. At Fuyao, Kasich rallied on trade while Trump rallied at the Dayton International Airport Expo Center. One protestor attempted to charge the stage, whom remarked on Twitter and to CNN that felt the urge to take the microphone away from Trump. “I was thinking that I could get up on stage and take his podium away from him and take his mic away from him and send a message to all people out in the country…that we can find our strength and stand up against Donald Trump and the new wave he’s ushering in of truly just violent white supremacist ideas,” Thomas DiMassimo, the protestor, said to CNN.
Trump nearly had a clean sweep on the March 15 primaries, taking the states of Illinois, Florida, Misourri, and North Carolina, while Kasich won his home state of Within the Republican Party and outside it, Trump’s lead has been increasingly concerning to some, Sen. Rubio included. Erick Erickson, host of “Atlanta’s Evening News with Erick Erickson” issued “Statement From Conservatives Against Trump” on March 17, stating that “[Conservatives] are committed to ensuring a real conservative candidate is elected. We believe that neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump, a Hillary Clinton donor, is that person.”
The meeting, which resulted in the issued statement, consisted of several factions of conservatives from different campaigns. “We call for a unity ticket that unites the Republican Party. If that unity ticket is unable to get 1,237 delegates prior to the convention, we recognize that it took Abraham Lincoln three ballots at the
Republican convention in 1860 to become the party’s nominee and it if it is good enough for Lincoln, that process should be good enough for all the candidates without the threat of riots,” the statement read.
Trump faced further controversy, including a several petitions in an attempt to remove Trump’s status as a candidate for presidency, due to remarks made to CNN about a contested convention. “I think you’d have riots,” Trump said. However, Trumps statements do not advocate for riots, despite consistent media coverage framing Trump’s warning as a perceived threat, the validity is questionable. Trump’s comments come shortly after the closing of his rally in Chicago, Illinois, which he later won in the following primary.
Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders continued their race, Clinton taking 133 delegates to Sanders 65 in Florida, 73 to Sanders’ 70 in Illinois, an even split of 34 each in Misourri, 59 to Sanders’ 45 in North Carolina and 80 delegates to Sanders’ 62 in Ohio.
Sanders intends to take his campaign to the convention in July despite a jarring lack of super delegates. With the coming states of Arizona, Idaho and Utah tonight, the race continues.
Barton Kleen
Managing Editor