OHIO — Ohio Republicans are abandoning their often virulent criticism of President-elect Donald Trump after a contentious primary and general campaign that saw Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Rob Portman both condemn the Republican nominee for his lewd comments about women and rhetoric that Kasich called "silly." Both men are now urging their supporters to rally behind Trump.

Trump won Ohio with 52 percent of the vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton's 43 percent. It is the largest margin of victory in the battleground state since 1988. Both Portman and Kasich took to Facebook (see their posts below) to congratulate Trump on his surprising and historic victory. While the senator was more effusive and verbose in his cry for national and state unity, Kasich's statement was short and terse, reading only, "The American people have spoken and it's time to come together. Congratulations President-elect Donald J. Trump."

Portman distanced himself from Trump prior to a debate with his opponent Ted Strickland, saying he would not endorse the Republican nominee. The senator also said at that debate that he would not support the deportation of millions of immigrants because it was impractical and inhumane. The jabs from Portman at his party's candidate were small potatoes compared to the open warfare that developed between the Kasich camp and the Trump campaign. Early on, the governor declared that he would not only not endorse Trump, but he would not vote for him either. On a morning talk show, Kasich said he wrote in Sen. John McCain's name instead.

When polls showed Trump getting trounced by Clinton, the Republican nominee and now president-elect began accusing the election of being rigged and said he wasn't sure he would accept the results of the 2016 general. Kasich called Trump's rhetoric "silly." "Look, to say elections are rigged and all these votes are stolen, that's like saying we never landed on the moon, frankly. That's how silly it is," he said.

The battle between Kasich and Trump spilled into a shakeup with Ohio's Republican infrastructure. In mid-October the Trump campaign cut ties with state Republican chairman Matt Borges. Trump State Director Robert Paduchik said Borges' "loyalties to Governor John Kasich's failed presidential campaign eclipse his responsibilities as Chairman of the Ohio Republican Party." He followed up that blistering attack by adding: "The Chairman is also driven by an apparently insatiable need for publicity."



Yet winning papers over all wounds, it appears. Portman and Kasich are leaving behind their problems with Trump and pushing an agenda of unity. How the Trump campaign responds, or if it responds at all, is yet to be seen.