Ohio governor John Kasich formally ruled out a third-party run for president in a Monday interview on CNN.
“I just think running third-party doesn’t feel right. I think it’s not constructive,” he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “ ... I don’t think it’s appropriate, I don’t think it’s the right thing to do.”
The comments come days after reports surfaced that the Republican establishment — including 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney — was vetting Kasich for a third-party run to challenge presumptive nominee Donald Trump.
Kasich did not deny that he had been approached by members of the Republican party about a third-party run.
“I have had a phone call with someone who wanted me to consider running as a third-party candidate,” Kasich said. “I’m not going to do that.”
Kasich suspended his presidential campaign on May 4 after winning only his home state of Ohio in three-plus months of primaries. He picked up 156 delegates throughout the primary process, and trailing Trump by more than 1,000 delegates.
Though he failed to garner momentum in the Republican race, Real Clear Politics reports that Kasich leads Hillary Clinton in six head-to-head polls by an average of 7.4 points. By comparison, Clinton leads Trump in similar polls by an average of six points.
Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.
