Marco Rubio is accompanied by Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel as he talks to voters on Oct. 16, 2015, in Salem, Ohio. | AP Photo Rubio’s top Ohio surrogate ignored push to switch to Kasich

CLEVELAND — On the surface, it seemed like an ordinary vote: Marco Rubio’s top surrogate in Ohio, state Treasurer Josh Mandel, cast an early ballot for Rubio on Friday afternoon.

But it was actually a subtle act of defiance. Time-stamped voting records show that Mandel voted for Rubio three hours after Rubio’s campaign encouraged backers to vote for John Kasich instead -- a tactical move intended to deny Donald Trump an Ohio victory. Rubio’s call sparked a furious effort by his allies in Ohio to shift support to Kasich instead. Another top Rubio backer, Phil Plummer, even recorded a robocall urging other Rubio supporters to cast ballots for Kasich.


But not Mandel. Records kept by Cleveland's Cuyahoga County show Mandel voted in-person at 3:06 p.m. on Friday, about three hours after the Rubio campaign nudged its supporters toward Kasich. A spokesman confirmed he cast that ballot for Rubio.

When reached by POLITICO Sunday morning, Mandel declined to immediately comment on his vote. About three hours later, a spokesman for Mandel emailed a statement.

“Treasurer Mandel voted early for Senator Rubio because he believes in him and felt it’s what’s most appropriate given that he’s his chairman for Ohio,” he said. “As Treasurer Mandel has said from the beginning, he’s pro-Marco Rubio, not anti-John Kasich.”

It’s an explanation that won’t wear well with pro-Kasich forces in Ohio who have long noted the tension between Mandel and Kasich. Already, the decision is inflaming tensions between Mandel and pro-Kasich forces.

“Josh isn’t motivated by his support of Rubio, he’s motivated by jealousy of John Kasich,” said a high-ranking Ohio GOP source.

Rubio, for his part, never explicitly demanded that his supporters vote for Kasich. But on Friday he suggested it was the only sensible course for stopping Trump, since Kasich is the only candidate positioned to beat Trump in Ohio and deny him the state’s 66 delegates – a huge haul that could put Trump in a nearly insurmountable position.

“If a voter in Ohio is motivated by stopping Donald Trump and comes to the conclusion that John Kasich is the only one who can beat him there, then I expect that's the decision they'll make,” Rubio said. He later added, “Clearly John Kasich has a better chance of winning Ohio than I do.”

Kasich backers in Ohio have moved quickly to capitalize on Rubio’s comments, supporting the robocall as well as web ads and other outreach efforts to Rubio supporters to convince them to vote for Kasich. But they haven’t returned the favor in Florida.

"We were going to win in Ohio without his help, just as he's going to lose in Florida without ours,” said Kasich campaign spokesman Rob Nichols on Friday.