In 1982, Kasich was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Ohio's 12th congressional district, defeating incumbent Democrat Bob Shamansky, and succeeded him in office on January 3, 1983.

[7][8] In the 2014 general election, Kasich won his reelection for Governor in a landslide, winning 86 of the 88 Ohio counties against Democratic candidate Ed FitzGerald.

During the CNBC Republican debate, Trump accused Kasich of having struck luck with fracking and sitting on the board of Lehman Brothers' at the time of its bankruptcy.

"[13][14] In the fourth GOP debate which was moderated by the Fox Business Network and The Wall Street Journal, Kasich, along with Jeb Bush, slammed Trump's plan.

"[15] By the first week of January, Kasich had held his fiftieth town hall meeting in New Hampshire, more than any other presidential candidate in the state.

[16] A Monmouth University poll released on January 11 showed Kasich in second place in New Hampshire, tied with Ted Cruz, both with 14%.

[24] Chris Christie suspended his campaign the day after the race, with many of his supporters, including his top donor, going to Kasich.

Bush suspended his campaign the day after the primaries, leaving Rubio and Kasich as the only "establishment" candidates left.

He finished second in both the states of Massachusetts and Vermont behind Trump with 18% and 30% of the vote respectively, but otherwise placed in single digits in the rest of the contests.

On March 12, Kasich again narrowly placed second, this time behind Senator Marco Rubio in Washington, D.C. by 50 votes and collected 9 delegates.

[30] However, on March 16, Kasich was mathematically eliminated from becoming the Republican Party's nominee, given that he had not won enough delegates in North Carolina, Illinois, or Missouri, all of which held their primaries the previous night.

[31] In April, Kasich campaigned in New York ahead of the state primary, where Trump led in polls by a significant margin.

[32] On April 14, Kasich received the endorsement of George Pataki, who called him the GOP's best chance to win the general election.

"[34] In April 2016, the campaigns of Kasich and Ted Cruz agreed to "split up" some of the remaining primaries in an effort to block Donald Trump from gaining the 1,237 delegates necessary to clinch the GOP nomination.

However, the pact proved challenging; for example, though Cruz was intended to focus on the Indiana primary, Kasich said that his supporters should still vote for him there.

[37] On May 3, after losing the Indiana primary, Cruz suspended his campaign and Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Reince Priebus stated that Trump will be the presumptive nominee.

[45] Kasich opposed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act though he did expand Medicaid in his state under Obamacare.

He says the United States should implement a system that has "patient-centered care, choices, market competition, decentralized decision-making, higher quality, respect for individuals and an end to Obamacare's big government interference".

He supported welfare reform and was a part of the team that introduced the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act.

He stated that part of criminal justice reform should be helping those addicted to drugs and the mentally ill.[47] Kasich had obtained endorsements from, among others: Actor Tim Allen, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales; Senator Rob Portman; former Speaker of the House John Boehner; former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; Governor Butch Otter of Idaho; and numerous newspaper editorial boards, including that of The New York Times.