By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, Cleveland Urban News. Com and the Cleveland Urban News.Com Blog, Ohio's Most Read Online Black Newspaper and Newspaper Blog. Tel: 216-659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Coleman is a 22-year political, legal and investigative journalist who trained for 17 years, and under five different editors, at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. (www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com).

THIS ARTICLE IS A REPRINT OF THE ARTICLE PUBLISHED HERE ON JUNE 21, 2015

COLUMBUS, Ohio- Ohio Gov. John Kasich (pictured) declared his candidacy for the 2016 presidential race today at the Ohio State University in the state's capital of Columbus with some 4,500 supporters on hand.

The governor of the bible belt state joins a line up of some 37 GOP hopefuls, some declared candidates, and others not.

A third of the candidates are  prominent, including front runners Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, former governors Jeb Bush of Florida and Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, and flamboyant billionaire businessman, actor and author Donald Trump.

Of note is what the Republican governor said during his campaign speech about African-Americans, though only a handful were there, an indication or not  that he is courting the Black vote,  and if so, a 360 degree turn from when he took office in 2011 and appointed not one Black to his cabinet.

"Or how about a member of the minority community — an African-American," said Kasich. "Do you wonder ?"

"You think about the troubles that many of our African-Americans still face today in the world where we have worked to provide equal rights and opportunities," said Kasich. " Sometimes they're not so sure, and I don't blame them."

Kasich said that historically Blacks have been treated like second class citizens in America, and that their suffering should not be forgotten.

"How about the racial violence that we experienced in this country?" said Kasich. "  The early days of television when they put the dogs and the gas and the batons on people of another color.

A former U.S. rep of Ohio with a sharp political tongue who lost to unions and labor when Senate Bill 5 , a state law that he championed that significantly curtailed collective bargaining in Ohio, was repealed in 2011, the governor came back to win reelection last year with 64 percent of the vote over Democrat Ed FitzGerald.

His Senate Bill 5 foes were among 100 or so protesters, including teachers, organized labor and pro-abortion advocates, that picketed his announcement.

Kasich is the 16th GOP candidate to enter the race and was joined by his wife Karen and twin 15-year-old daughters, Emma and Reese, as he announced his run for the White House. And he focused on fiscal policy, jobs,  and the economy, something presidential candidates often do, smart ones at least.

"I will promise you that my top priority will be to get this country on a path to fiscal independence, and strength, and we will rebuild the economy of this country because creating jobs is the highest moral purpose," said Kasich. "And we will move to get that done."

His announcement got mixed reviews.

Some political pundits , mainly CNN commentators, were unkind, saying the Ohio governor is a long shot and is an unknown, and that he gave a rambling  45-minute announcement speech. And he will not be among the 10 GOP candidates selected for the first GOP presidential debate in Cleveland on August 6, which will also host the Republican National Convention next year. (Editor's note: The debate will be televised live from Quicken Loans arena in downtown Cleveland, Ohio on Fox 8 news beginning at 9 pm EST. Fox news is also sponsoring the debate, which will permit  public participation by tickets only ).

He ranks 12th among the top 15 GOP candidates, according to a poll announced Monday by RealClearPolitics.com.

Others are calling him a compassionate Republican as he talks equal opportunity while Republican dominated state legislatures across the country, including in Ohio, keep chipping away at voting rights

What he has done for sure is put Ohio further up on the political map for now, an addition to its status already of no Republican of remembrance winning the White House without first winning the state of Ohio, and no Democrat doing so since president John F. Kennedy in 1960.

Kasich was all but confirmed to enter the presidential race when he gave his State of the State address on Feb. 24 at the Roberts Centre in Wilmington, Ohio to a capacity audience that consisted largely of state legislators and fellow Republicans. There he utilized the bulk of his 75-minute speech to push his tax plan and education funding proposals, as well as an economic agenda, all of them public policy initiatives that are discussed universally on the national level and have become part of his campaign for president.

Kasich ousted the Democratic governor Ted Strickland in a close election in 2010, and Strickland is  seeking the Democratic nomination for next year's U. S. Senate race,  hoping, do doubt,  to unseat Republican Rob Portman.

Hillary Clinton is the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president, her only credible opponent being U. S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of New York, who has wooed crowds but is a sure long-shot at 73-years-old.

(www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)