Gov. John Kasich is telling Ohio lawmakers to steer clear of what he calls "mindless partisanship" and find common ground.
The first-term Republican made his plea for legislators to put politics aside and focus on what's good for Ohio in his State of the State address Tuesday in Steubenville. Kasich's fellow Republicans control the state Legislature. The GOP holds a 23-10 edge in the state Senate, and a 59-40 advantage in the House. The governor told state lawmakers that the country is losing faith in their elected officials.
Kasich also highlighted education and shale gas drilling in the speech at Wells Academy elementary school and he addressed the Ohio turnpike. He says the state will never give up underlying control of the Turnpike but that it would be wrong not to look at options that could earn the state millions. He says it's worth considering the idea of leasing the turnpike because of the opportunities for revenue for the state.
About 100 demonstrators gathered outside school where the governor was giving his address.
Some of the protesters gathered to oppose the use of a new oil and gas drilling technique and others support the Occupy movement. Locked-out Cooper Tire & Rubber worker and steelworker's union member Shane Hanley says he showed up to let the governor know that he had not forgotten the governor’s actions from the year before, a reference to the bitter campaign over public worker union limits that voters overwhelmingly rejected in the November election.