Ohio Gov. John Kasich followed through on his promise not to vote for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, instead casting a write-in vote for 2008 Republican nominee John McCain.
Chris Schrimpf, the governor’s political spokesman, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer on Monday that Mr. Kasich voted for Mr. McCain for president and voted straight-ticket Republican on the rest of his absentee ballot.
The vote was a symbolic one, given that the Arizona senator is not among the 18 certified write-in candidates in Ohio, the Plain Dealer noted.
“I appreciate that my old friend and Ohio’s outstanding governor, John Kasich, would pay me the compliment,” Mr. McCain told NBC News in a statement.
Mr. Kasich, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for president in 2000 and in 2016, announced last month that he would not support Mr. Trump after a 2005 recording revealed the business mogul talking on a hot mic about groping women.
“Donald Trump is a man I cannot and should not support,” the governor said in an Oct. 8 statement. “The actions of the last day are disgusting, but that’s not why I reached this decision, it has been an accumulation of his words and actions that many have been warning about. I will not vote for a nominee who has behaved in a manner that reflects so poorly on our country. Our country deserves better.”
Mr. Kasich has spent the fall campaigning for down-ballot Republican candidates.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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