Ohio’s Kasich registers for SC’s GOP presidential primary

Ohio Gov. John Kasich discussed his immigration stance and plans to end gridlock in Washington — plus his relationship with S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley — while formally adding his name Monday to South Carolina’s GOP presidential primary ballot.

During a visit to S.C. Republican Party headquarters in Columbia, Kasich said he wants to finish construction of a wall between the United States and Mexico.

“Anyone who comes in illegally will have to be sent back,” Kasich said.

Kasich has called for a path to legal citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants now in the country. Most, he said, are, “God-fearing, good hard-working people, and they’re part of our country now.”

“I don’t think we need to be engaged in trying to figure out how to load them on buses and ship them to the border because I don’t think it’s even practical or the right thing to do,” Kasich said.

Kasich said he could use the 18 years that he spent in Congress to help devise solutions to the country’s immigration, budget and national security challenges, while devising a health care system better than the Affordable Care Act.

As governor of Ohio, Kasich expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, a decision that drew criticism from fellow Republicans. S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley, who has refused to expanded Medicaid under the federal law, confronted Kasich at a 2013 event about his decision, which he said was based on his religious beliefs about helping the poor, according to published reports.

Kasich said he would not tell Haley what she should do in South Carolina.

“It is essential that every state in their own way begin to figure out what we can do about those people who live in the shadows because, when we don’t, America is not complete. America is not whole,” Kasich said. “Whether you do it my way or do it some other way, it doesn’t matter. I’m not here to tell people. But I do think it’s important that people who need to get on their feet, who need to be able to live out their God-given purpose — after all, we’re all made in the image of the Lord — need to be helped.

“In our state, we have a philosophy, and that is it is a sin not to help people who need help. But as my mother used to say, it’s equally a sin to continue to help people who need to learn how to help themselves.”

Kasich said he and Haley are on good terms. They saw each other at the GOP presidential debate in Cleveland earlier this month, he added.

“She’s a terrific governor, and the whole country has seen that she is a leader,” Kasich said.

Kasich did get an endorsement Monday from a Republican governor — Alabama’s Robert Bentley.

In Columbia, Kasich became the third Republican presidential candidate to submit his paperwork to run in the 2016 S.C. presidential primary, set for Feb. 20. He joins former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as a formal entrant.

The remaining 14 declared GOP White House hopefuls have until Sept. 30 to pay the $40,000 fee required to register for the South’s first presidential primary.

This story was originally published August 17, 2015 at 7:08 PM with the headline "Ohio’s Kasich registers for SC’s GOP presidential primary."