Governor of Ohio
November 4, 2014 · general election · 3 candidates with a page
The candidates
Listed alphabetically by surname. Ohio rotates the order candidates appear in by precinct, so no order on this page is the order on a ballot.
- FBI special agent assigned to the Organized Crime Task Force in Chicago in the 1990s.
- Legislative staff assistant for U.S. Representative Edward Feighan and Indiana Secretary of State Evan Bayh while in law school.
- Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor after returning to Ohio in 1998.
9 of 11 sections researched · 12 sources
- Administrative assistant to an Ohio state senator, 1975-1977, before his own election to the Ohio Legislature.
- Managing director in Lehman Brothers' investment-banking division, Columbus, Ohio, 2001-2008.
- Hosted "Heartland with John Kasich" on the Fox News Channel after leaving Congress in 2001.
10 of 11 sections researched · 23 sources
- Worked as a case manager for the severely mentally ill and as a shop steward for SEIU/1199 (per campaign)
- Ran for lieutenant governor of Ohio on the Green Party ticket in 2006 and 2010, and for Toledo city council in 2011, taking over 30 percent of the vote (per campaign)
- Graduated from the University of Toledo (per campaign)
4 of 11 sections researched · 1 source
Ed FitzGerald
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| Section | State |
|---|---|
| profile | researched |
| ballot | researched |
| positions | researched |
| claims | researched |
| record | researched |
| money | researched |
| interests | not researched |
| polling | researched |
| elections | researched |
| endorsements | not researched |
| sources | researched |
John Kasich
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| Section | State |
|---|---|
| profile | researched |
| ballot | researched |
| positions | researched |
| claims | researched |
| record | researched |
| money | researched |
| interests | researched |
| polling | researched |
| elections | researched |
| endorsements | none found |
| sources | researched |
Anita Rios
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| Section | State |
|---|---|
| profile | researched |
| ballot | researched |
| positions | not researched |
| claims | not researched |
| record | not researched |
| money | not researched |
| interests | not researched |
| polling | not researched |
| elections | researched |
| endorsements | not researched |
| sources | researched |
The race in pictures
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| Field date | Candidate | Share | Poll |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2014 | Ed FitzGerald | 35 | Quinnipiac University Poll, likely voters |
| Oct 1, 2014 | John Kasich | 57 | Quinnipiac University Poll, likely voters |
A note on our coverage
Read before the columns: where one candidate has more entries than another, this says which of the two reasons it is.
We have checked 1 claim by Ed FitzGerald, 1 by John Kasich and 0 by Anita Rios. The gap is in our research, not in them.
Where they stand: John Kasich has 5 entries, Ed FitzGerald has 3 entries and Anita Rios has 0 entries. The difference reflects the length of each public record and the depth of our research; it is not a judgment.
John Kasich's record in office has 6 entries, Ed FitzGerald's has 3 and Anita Rios's has 0. The difference reflects the length of each public record and the depth of our research; it is not a judgment.
Sources: John Kasich has 11 entries, Ed FitzGerald has 10 entries and Anita Rios has 1 entry. The difference reflects the length of each public record and the depth of our research; it is not a judgment.
Jump to a candidate
- Ed FitzGerald: Where they stand · What they have said, checked · Record in office · Money
- John Kasich: Where they stand · What they have said, checked · Record in office · Money
- Anita Rios: Where they stand · What they have said, checked · Record in office · Money
Where they stand
Their own words, by issue, with the date, the venue and the link. A paraphrase is marked as one.
Economy
Ed FitzGerald
None found in the records checked
John Kasich
Paraphrase of a linked source, not their words:
Campaigned on his first term having restored Ohio's fiscal stability and turned around an economy that, like the rest of the Rust Belt, had languished after the Great Recession, crediting the administration with diversifying Ohio's economy and adding private-sector jobs.
Source: John Kasich
Anita Rios
Not yet researched
Education
Ed FitzGerald
Paraphrase of a linked source, not their words:
Proposed a large state-funded universal preschool program, reported at roughly $500 million, as a signature policy plank.
Source: Ed FitzGerald
John Kasich
None found in the records checked
Anita Rios
Not yet researched
Health care
Ed FitzGerald
None found in the records checked
John Kasich
Paraphrase of a linked source, not their words:
Opposed the Obama administration's health care law, in contrast with Strickland's support for it, and opposed federal cap-and-trade emissions limits.
Source: 2010 Ohio gubernatorial election
Anita Rios
Not yet researched
Medicaid expansion
Ed FitzGerald
None found in the records checked
John Kasich
Paraphrase of a linked source, not their words:
Campaigned on having expanded Medicaid coverage to an estimated 366,000 low-income Ohioans starting January 2014, using the ACA's expansion funds after his own Republican legislature would not authorize it directly, citing its role in addiction treatment during Ohio's opioid crisis.
Source: John Kasich
Anita Rios
Not yet researched
Taxes
Ed FitzGerald
Paraphrase of a linked source, not their words:
Attacked Gov. Kasich's income-tax cuts as regressive, arguing they delivered larger dollar savings to wealthier Ohioans while the sales-tax increases Kasich signed alongside them fell disproportionately on lower-income Ohioans.
Source: Ed FitzGerald
John Kasich
Paraphrase of a linked source, not their words:
Signed a budget (House Bill 59) phasing in a roughly 10% cut to state income-tax rates and a 50% tax reduction for small businesses on their first $250,000 of income, offset in part by raising the state sales tax from 5.5% to 5.75%, and eliminating Ohio's estate tax effective January 1, 2013.
Source: John Kasich
Anita Rios
Not yet researched
Taxes and government spending
Ed FitzGerald
None found in the records checked
John Kasich
Paraphrase of a linked source, not their words:
Campaigned on restoring Ohio's fiscal stability and balancing the state budget without raising taxes, drawing on his record as former House Budget Committee chairman, and on cutting taxes and reducing regulation to spur job growth after the 2008-2010 recession.
Anita Rios
Not yet researched
Voting access
Ed FitzGerald
Paraphrase of a linked source, not their words:
Opposed Kasich-signed election-law changes that cut early voting days and limited distribution of absentee ballot applications, framing the changes as suppressing Democratic-leaning turnout.
Source: Ed FitzGerald
John Kasich
None found in the records checked
Anita Rios
Not yet researched
What they have said, checked
Newest first. Each check is shown in the checker's own rating word, with their name, the date and the link.
Ed FitzGerald
-
Ohioans want an end to pay-to-play politics
PolitiFact rated this False, May 2, 2013 · the check
John Kasich
-
nearly 250,000 jobs have been created
NBC4/NBC News rated this Overstated, August 20, 2014 · the check
Anita Rios
Not yet researched
Record in office
Dated actions. Any evaluation of an action is printed with the name of whoever made it and the link.
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| Person | Date | Kind | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| FitzGerald (D) | 2011-01-09 | office | Cuyahoga County Executive |
| FitzGerald (D) | 2008 | office | Mayor of Lakewood, Ohio |
| FitzGerald (D) | 2012-10-13 | action | 2012-10-13 (action): Found by Westlake, Ohio police at approximately 4:30 a.m. sitting in a parked car with a member of a visiting Irish economic-development del |
| FitzGerald (D) | 2013 | action | 2013 (action): As Cuyahoga County Executive, reduced non-courthouse county payroll headcount by roughly one-fourth (from about 5,092 employees in 2010 to a |
| FitzGerald (D) | 2013-11-20 | action | 2013-11-20 (action): Named Ohio state Sen. Eric Kearney of Cincinnati as his lieutenant governor running mate; Kearney withdrew three weeks later, on December 10 |
| Kasich (R) | 2011-01 | office | Governor of Ohio |
| Kasich (R) | 1983-01 | office | U.S. House of Representatives, Ohio's 12th District |
| Kasich (R) | 2011-01 | office | Governor of Ohio |
| Kasich (R) | 1997-08 | bill | 1997-08 (bill): As chairman of the House Budget Committee (1995-2001), was a lead architect and chief House sponsor of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, a bi |
| Kasich (R) | 2001 | action | 2001 (action): Joined Lehman Brothers' investment banking division as a managing director in 2001, running its two-person Columbus, Ohio office, and remain |
| Kasich (R) | 2002 | action | 2002 (action): While at Lehman Brothers, sought to persuade two Ohio state pension funds to invest with the firm; after Lehman's 2008 collapse, Ohio's publ |
| Kasich (R) | 2011-03 | bill | 2011-03 (bill): Signed Senate Bill 5, sharply restricting collective-bargaining rights for public employees including police, firefighters and teachers; Ohi |
| Kasich (R) | 2013-06 | bill | 2013-06 (bill): Signed, in a private ceremony, a law reclassifying JobsOhio's liquor-profit funding as private and exempt from state audit, after State Audi |
| Kasich (R) | 2013-10-21 | action | 2013-10-21 (action): His administration won approval for Ohio's Medicaid expansion from the seven-member Ohio Controlling Board, 5-2, after being unable to get t |
Ed FitzGerald
-
November 20, 2013 · action
Named Ohio state Sen. Eric Kearney of Cincinnati as his lieutenant governor running mate; Kearney withdrew three weeks later, on December 10, 2013, amid controversy over more than $1,000,000 in state and federal tax liens against him, his wife and their business. FitzGerald then selected Dayton-area attorney Sharen Swartz Neuhardt as his new running mate.
Source: Ed FitzGerald
-
2013 · action
As Cuyahoga County Executive, reduced non-courthouse county payroll headcount by roughly one-fourth (from about 5,092 employees in 2010 to about 4,534 by 2013) and created the county's first unified, countywide pay scale and employee-evaluation system.
Source: 11 actions Ed FitzGerald, Cuyahoga County's first executive, will be remembered for
-
October 13, 2012 · action
Found by Westlake, Ohio police at approximately 4:30 a.m. sitting in a parked car with a member of a visiting Irish economic-development delegation who is not his wife; no charges were filed. Subsequent reporting found he had not held a valid regular Ohio driver's license for roughly a decade, and a county Inspector General review found he had violated county policy and committed "a breach of the public trust" by driving a county vehicle without a valid license.
Sources: Inspector General: Ed FitzGerald violated county policy by driving without a license · The remarkable implosion of Ed FitzGerald
John Kasich
-
October 21, 2013 · action
His administration won approval for Ohio's Medicaid expansion from the seven-member Ohio Controlling Board, 5-2, after being unable to get the GOP-controlled General Assembly to authorize it directly; two anti-abortion groups and six Republican state lawmakers sued the next day, arguing the Board lacked authority to approve the spending.
Source: John Kasich
-
June 2013 · bill
Signed, in a private ceremony, a law reclassifying JobsOhio's liquor-profit funding as private and exempt from state audit, after State Auditor Dave Yost had subpoenaed the agency's records in March 2013 to audit the roughly $100-228 million a year in liquor profits funding it.
Good Jobs First, a national watchdog group, October 23, 2013 report:
JobsOhio's board included major campaign contributors and executives of companies that were themselves recipients of large state subsidies
· the sourceSource: National Report Criticizes JobsOhio, Other Privatized Agencies
-
March 2011 · bill
Signed Senate Bill 5, sharply restricting collective-bargaining rights for public employees including police, firefighters and teachers; Ohio voters repealed it by referendum on November 8, 2011, 61.33%-39.67%.
Source: An Ohio gubernatorial race blow-out? Wouldn't be the first time
-
2002 · action
While at Lehman Brothers, sought to persuade two Ohio state pension funds to invest with the firm; after Lehman's 2008 collapse, Ohio's public pension systems suffered losses reported at roughly $480 million tied to Lehman-related investments.
Source: John Kasich's Work at Lehman Brothers Connected to Hit That Ohio Seniors Have Taken in New TV Ad
-
2001 · action
Joined Lehman Brothers' investment banking division as a managing director in 2001, running its two-person Columbus, Ohio office, and remained there until the firm's September 2008 bankruptcy, earning a documented $432,200 bonus atop a $182,692 salary in 2008 alone.
-
August 1997 · bill
As chairman of the House Budget Committee (1995-2001), was a lead architect and chief House sponsor of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, a bipartisan agreement with the Clinton administration that helped produce the first federal budget surpluses since the late 1960s.
House Speaker Newt Gingrich, per Bloomberg:
more than any single man... responsible for balancing the budget
· the sourceSource: Did John Kasich Help Balance the Federal Budget as Budget Chairman?
Anita Rios
Not yet researched
Money
Totals and donors exactly as filed with the FEC or the Ohio Secretary of State, each figure with its filing link.
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| Status |
|---|
| None found in the records checked |
Ed FitzGerald
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| From | To | Dollars | Share of total | Note |
|---|
Totals as filed
OhioSOS, as of September 2014: raised , cash on hand $2,600,000.
Sources: Kasich, FitzGerald report campaign coffers · The remarkable implosion of Ed FitzGerald
Top donors, as filed
None found in the records checked
Outside spending
None found in the records checked
In-state share
Not yet researched
John Kasich
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| From | To | Dollars | Share of total | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raised | Cash on hand | 3,900,000 | 31.2% | |
| Other funds (derived) | Cash on hand | 8,600,000 | 68.8% |
Totals as filed
OhioSOS, as of September 2014: raised $3,900,000, cash on hand $12,500,000.
Source: Kasich, FitzGerald report campaign coffers
Top donors, as filed
None found in the records checked
Outside spending
In-state share
Not yet researched
Anita Rios
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| Status |
|---|
| None found in the records checked |
Totals as filed
Not yet researched
Top donors, as filed
Not yet researched
Outside spending
Not yet researched
In-state share
Not yet researched
The result
John Kasich · certified 2014-12 · turnout 40.65
| Candidate | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| John Kasich | 1,944,848 | 63.6% |
| Ed FitzGerald | 1,009,359 | 33.0% |
Source: 2014 Ohio gubernatorial election
Sources
Data from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0: 2014 Ohio gubernatorial election · Ed FitzGerald · John Kasich · 2010 Ohio gubernatorial election
- 2014 Ohio gubernatorial election · Wikipedia · accessed 2026-09-19
- John Kasich · Ballotpedia · accessed 2026-09-19
- Ed FitzGerald · Ballotpedia · accessed 2026-09-19
- Ed FitzGerald · Wikipedia · accessed 2026-09-19
- Ed FitzGerald accuses Gov. John Kasich of pay-to-play politics · PolitiFact · 2013-05-02 · accessed 2026-09-19
- Inspector General: Ed FitzGerald violated county policy by driving without a license · Fox 8 Cleveland WJW · accessed 2026-09-19
- The remarkable implosion of Ed FitzGerald · The Washington Post · 2014-08-26 · accessed 2026-09-19
- Kasich, FitzGerald report campaign coffers · MyTownNEO · 2014-09-05 · accessed 2026-09-19
- Kasich Stomps FitzGerald In Ohio Gov Race · Quinnipiac University Poll · 2014-10-01 · accessed 2026-09-19
- 11 actions Ed FitzGerald, Cuyahoga County's first executive, will be remembered for · Cleveland.com (reprint) · 2014-12-31 · accessed 2026-09-19
- Roll the Numbers: Gov. John Kasich Raising Money at 28 Times the Rate of Ed FitzGerald · Cleveland Scene · 2014-10-07 · accessed 2026-09-19
- https://signalohio.org/ohio-democrat-ed-fitzgerald-launches-political-comeback-a-decade-after-blowout-in-governors-race/
- John Kasich · Wikipedia · accessed 2026-09-19
- FACT CHECK: NBC4 Dissects 'Kasich Listened' Campaign Ad · NBC4/NBC News · 2014-08-20 · accessed 2026-09-19
- An Ohio gubernatorial race blow-out? Wouldn't be the first time · WVXU · 2014-10-05 · accessed 2026-09-19
- National Report Criticizes JobsOhio, Other Privatized Agencies · Cincinnati CityBeat · 2013-10-23 · accessed 2026-09-19
- Ohio gubernatorial election, 2010 · Ballotpedia · accessed 2026-09-21
- 2010 Ohio gubernatorial election · Wikipedia · accessed 2026-09-21
- Kasich ad puts all the state's budget woes, job losses on Strickland · PolitiFact · 2010-10-19 · accessed 2026-09-21
- https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/K000016
- https://westervillelibrary.org/kasich/
- Federal Elections 98 (PDF, the entire publication; Ohio U.S. House results on printed pages 99-103); compiled from state elections offices · Federal Election Commission · accessed 2026-09-25
- Federal Elections 98 · Federal Election Commission · accessed 2026-09-25
- Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 3, 1998 (Ohio, U.S. Representative) · Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives · accessed 2026-09-25
- 10/26/10 - Kasich Up 6 Points In Ohio Gov Race · Quinnipiac University Poll · accessed 2026-09-21
- Did John Kasich Help Balance the Federal Budget as Budget Chairman? · Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget · accessed 2026-09-21
- John Kasich's Wall Street ties could haunt 2016 bid · CNN Politics · accessed 2026-09-21
- John Kasich's Work at Lehman Brothers Connected to Hit That Ohio Seniors Have Taken in New TV Ad · SEIU · accessed 2026-09-21
- Anita Rios biography · Vote Smart · accessed 2026-09-24
- Campaign finance filings search · Ohio Secretary of State · accessed 2026-10-15
- State and Area Employment, Hours, and Earnings (CES), series SMS39000000000000001 (Ohio, total nonfarm, seasonally adjusted) · U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · accessed 2026-09-19
Quick answers
When was the 2014 Governor of Ohio election?
The election for Governor of Ohio was held on November 4, 2014.
Who ran for Governor of Ohio in 2014?
On the ballot for Governor of Ohio, in surname order: Ed FitzGerald (Democratic), John Kasich (Republican), Anita Rios (Green).
Who won the 2014 Governor of Ohio election?
John Kasich won the election for Governor of Ohio. Results as certified: Ed FitzGerald 33.0%, John Kasich 63.6%.
Cite and data
Cite this page as:
Cracked Buckeye, "Governor of Ohio, 2014", https://crackedbuckeye.com/election/2014/governor/, built 2026-11-03, accessed [date].
How to cite · Report a correction · Built 2026-11-03