Yet another anti-gay rights Republican is running for President
Another anti-gay Republican has declared he is running for President – becoming the sixteenth person to declare their candidacy for the party’s nomination.
John Kasich, the Governor of Ohio, announced today that he plans to seek his party’s nomination to run for the White House in 2016 – joining an already comically large field.
Mr Kasich, a critic of same-sex marriage who has also voted to ban same-sex adoption, said in his announcement: “I have decided to run for president of the United States.”
His announcement is significant as Ohio is a key swing state in the election.
There are now 16 Republicans in the running: Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, John Kasich, George Pataki, Rand Paul, Rick Perry, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum, Donald Trump, and Scott Walker.
The majority of the field is strongly opposed to LGBT rights – with the eventual victor set to face off against the Democratic nominee, likely to be Hillary Clinton.
The current poll leaders are Bush, Trump and Walker – but the unprecedented overcrowded field is likely to prevent a clear front-runner from emerging.
Given the first Republican Presidential debate can only incorporate ten candidates, the party will face significant challenges slimming down the field.
Of the 16 nominees, billionaire Donald Trump has garnered the most media attention with his shambolic campaign.
He started off by claiming that Mexican immigrants include “rapists” and bring “drugs and crime” – and insisted he believe in ‘traditional’ marriage despite being married three times.
It was later alleged that the reality TV star – who has already been sacked by NBC – paid actors $50 each to pretend to support him at his Presidential launch.
