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John Richard Kasich (born May 13, 1952, McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania) is a former Republican United States Representative who is now a television show host for FOX News Channel. He hosts Heartland with John Kasich , and also guest hosts The O'Reilly Factor , filling in for Bill O'Reilly when necessary. He graduated from The Ohio State University in 1974 with a B.A. in political science. He was a member of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity. After college, Kasich served as a legislative aide to Ohio State Senator Donald "Buz" Lukens. In 1978 he was elected to the Ohio State Senate where he served until he was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1982, defeating incumbent Bob Shamansky. Kasich was reelected eight times, serving from 1983 to 2001. Kasich was fiscally conservative, taking aim at programs supported by Republicans and Democrats, including the B-2 Bomber. However, in 1994 Kasich disappointed many conservatives by casting the deciding vote for passage of the Clinton Crime Bill, which banned many types of firearms popular with American gun owners. In 1993, he became the Ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee where he authored an alternative to President Bill Clinton's deficit reduction plan that he presented as relying on spending reductions rather than tax increases. Later that year, the Penny-Kasich Plan failed by only six votes to cut federal spending by an additional $90 billion on top of the deficit reduction forecasted by President Clinton. After 1994, Republicans became the majority party in the United States Congress and Kasich became Chairman of the House Budget Committee where one of his stated goals was working towards a balanced budget. Kasich also served as chair of the congressional committee on welfare reform. During the 1996 presidential campaign, Republican nominee Bob Dole was reported to have considered Kasich as a vice presidential running mate but instead selected Jack Kemp, a former congressman and HUD Secretary. During the 1996 campaign Kasich's Democratic opponent in his House race, Cynthia Ruccia, made comments regarding Kasich's sexuality in an attempt to smear him. Ruccia raised the question of the propriety of bachelor Kasich sharing a Washington townhouse with his male chief-of-staff. Kasich nonetheless won the 1996 election, and subsequently married in March of 1997. He did not seek reelection for the House for the 2000 election, but instead formed an exploratory committee to run for President. He withdrew early in July 1999 and endorsed George W. Bush, the eventual Republican nominee and winner of the election. He took a job as managing director of the investment banking division of Lehman Brothers in 2001. Kasich is currently chairman of the New Century Project. A number of Republicans tried to recruit Kasich for Ohio Governor in 2006; however Kasich was not interested in the race. Kasich's book, Courage is Contagious, was a New York Times bestseller. Kasich is of Croatian descent. Kasich was raised in the Roman Catholic Church and is now attending a non-denominational evangelical Christian Church with his family. Kasich's new book Stand for Something: The Battle for America's Soul was released on May 10, 2006.
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