John Kasich to announce 2016 intentions on July 21

Ohio Gov. John Kasich plans to announce his 2016 presidential intentions in Columbus on July 21, with a website for the Ohio governor offering people the opportunity to sign up to attend a “special announcement.”

Mr. Kasich would enter a crowded GOP field that already has more than a dozen declared candidates, and the announcement would come just a few weeks before the first RNC-sanctioned GOP debate, which will be held in Cleveland on Aug. 6.

He is currently 13th in Real Clear Politics’ latest average of public polling on the GOP field, but could potentially break into the top 10 with a post-announcement bounce, which would get him onstage for the first GOP debate.

Mr. Kasich said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” he was “awfully close” to being able to make a decision and that he wants to do it “if I think I have a path to win.”

He attributed his comparatively low poll numbers to his coming into office to take care of his home state and not traveling outside the state much.

“So we went from $8 billion in the hole to a $2 billion surplus to a balanced budget, the largest tax cuts in the country and growing 360,000 jobs with everyone having a chance,” he said. “Now I can go out and tell my story. And hopefully, the polls will rise. We’ll see.”

Mr. Kasich could potentially be joined in the coming weeks by another Midwestern governor, Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who has said he’ll announce his decision on his 2016 plans the week of July 13.

Though Mr. Kasich could try to parlay his straight-talking demeanor into support in early states like New Hampshire, he has also signaled a willingness to support a path to legalized status for illegal immigrants and he expanded Medicaid under Obamacare in his home state — two positions at odds with much of the conservative base.

He also said Sunday in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision on gay marriage that he believes in traditional marriage, “but the Supreme Court has ruled, and it’s the law of the land, and we’ll abide by it. And I think everybody needs to take a deep breath to see how this evolves.”

“But I know this, I mean, religious institutions, religious entities, you know, like the Catholic Church, they need to be honored as well. And I think there’s an ability to strike a balance,” he said.