Ohio Gov. John Kasich will depart Republican National Convention festivities in Cleveland on Sunday to address the NAACP annual convention in Cincinnati. Kasich, the last standing challenger to presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, has refused to endorse Trump, describing him as a divisive candidate when the nation needs a unifying figure.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich will depart Republican National Convention festivities in Cleveland on Sunday to address the NAACP annual convention in Cincinnati.

Kasich, the last standing challenger to presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, has refused to endorse Trump, describing him as a divisive candidate when the nation needs a unifying figure.

Democratic presidential nominee-in-waiting Hillary Clinton is scheduled to address thousands of members of the civil-rights group on Monday. Trump declined an invitation to speak.

The governor will speak at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the Duke Energy Convention Center.

While campaigning for the presidency, Kasich often talked of the need to assist African-Americans in escaping poverty and entering the workforce and tending to those "in the shadows."

Kasich's move to expand Medicaid as part of the Obamacare also extended health care coverage to about 677,000 low-income Ohioans.

The governor also has noted that Ohio moved before most other states to address shattered relations between police officers and the African-American community following fatal shootings of blacks by white officers.

Kasich, with the assistance of two black lawmakers, created a task force and, later, an advisory body to recommend ways to improve policing and work toward rebuilding trust between officers and the communities they serve.

The state has established first-ever statewide standards for police use of force and deadly force and on officer recruitment and hiring.

The governor's administration also has channeled a record amount of state business to minority-owned companies at Kasich's insistence.

Kasich is scheduled to return to Cleveland for the GOP convention following his early-evening remarks in Cincinnati. The event officially opens on Monday.

Kasich will not speak as part of the official convention lineup and may not even set foot inside Quicken Loans Arena.

rludlow@dispatch.com

@RandyLudlow