Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) on Monday hit back at Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) for running an attack ad against him in Wisconsin ahead of Tuesday’s primary vote, calling the Texas senator a “smear artist.”
“They’ve spent, I dunno, a million dollars smearing me—Ted, Senator Ted, the smear artist,” Kasich told reporters after a town hall at New York’s Hofstra University. “They’re attacking me in Wisconsin. For a guy that’s not doing very well, they sure are spending a lot of money trying to knock me out. But they’re not gonna be successful.”
The 30-second ad attacks Kasich for once working for Worthington Industries, a Fortune 500 firm that laid off hundreds of Ohio employees last year, and frames him as out of touch with working-class Americans. The last shot features a photo of the Ohio governor with the words “John Kasich: Not for us.”
This spot is Cruz’s first direct attack ad against Kasich. Cruz’s campaign has also flooded the Milwaukee suburbs with direct mailings blasting Kasich’s record as governor, according to the Washington Post.
Though Cruz is widely favored to win the Badger State primary, his barrage of last-minute attacks suggest he fears losing some delegates to Kasich.
Both Cruz and Donald Trump have urged Kasich to drop out of the race, arguing he has no chance of earning enough delegates to secure the Republican nomination. Kasich has won only one state, his home base of Ohio, in the primary and caucus races thus far.
Kasich candidly told reporters that he was “going to lose in Wisconsin,” but said that was no reason to leave the race, according to the Post.
“We have one guy with no experience and the other guy whose experience amounts to shutting down the government and calling the majority leader a liar,” said Kasich, referring to Trump and Cruz. “How do we go to a convention and we pick somebody that can’t beat Hillary? I’m not gonna be a pincushion. I’m not gonna be a marshmallow.”
