John Kasich

Ohio Gov. John Kasich speaks to an audience at a restaurant Wednesday in Nashua, N.H.

(Steven Senne, The Associated Press)

John Kasich takes another lap through New Hampshire. Sherrod Brown doles out some unusual praise. Zach Scott talks turnout. Read on in today's Ohio Politics Roundup.

John Kasich frets about big money: The Ohio governor said earlier this week that a lack of money is now the only thing that could stop him from running for president. Coincidence or not, while testing the waters Wednesday in New Hampshire, the Republican lamented the role that mega-donors play in national politics.

"I am a little bit concerned about a handful of people that can provide the fuel for people to be able to compete," said Kasich, whose remarks were reported by Dan Tuohy of the New Hampshire Union Leader. "Something we have to think about - a handful of people who can, more or less, begin to pick who the president ought to be, OK, based solely on money. I don't know how you deal with that problem, but we all ought to think about it."

No Hillary bashing: Kasich "was asked in New Hampshire on Wednesday to give a few reasons why Hillary Rodham Clinton would make a bad president," reports Kathleen Ronayne of the Associated Press. "Kasich demurred and instead criticized the negative nature of campaigning. He said he's not interested in trashing people to get ahead."

Do voters want Kasich's candor? "I don't know," Kasich told the Concord Monitor's Casey McDermott while "fiddling with a napkin roll and silverware" at lunch. "I think so, but I don't know - you have to make that judgment. I mean, I wouldn't be moving forward if I didn't think it was working. But I'm not sure it's just that. I think it's - look, we need to win Ohio. You've got a guy from Ohio, he's got success in many different levels. And, um, I don't want to overanalyze it, you know?"

Does Kasich hold that Electoral College key to Ohio? The latest from Larry Sabato, Kyle Kondik and Geoffrey Skelley at Sabato's Crystal Ball:

If a Republican can't win Ohio, can he win other competitive Midwestern states that are usually more Democratic, such as Pennsylvania or Wisconsin? That's very doubtful as the Keystone and Badger states have been more Democratic than Ohio in every presidential election going back to 1964, when Lyndon Johnson performed slightly better in Ohio than Wisconsin. Pennsylvania has been more Democratic than Ohio in every election since 1948. Without Ohio and probably some more electoral votes from the Midwest, the GOP path to victory is difficult to imagine. ...

... It's worth mentioning that Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, a potential Republican candidate, has strong approval ratings back home (61%, according to Quinnipiac University), although he is a less plausible nominee than Bush, Rubio, or Walker, and the same partisan forces that would apply to any of those other candidates would probably also apply to him if he were the nominee. But he might have the best case of any of the potential nominees for president for prompting a ratings change in his home state, though as with the others we would need strong polling data to back that up.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch ... As Kasich "defended his tax plan in New Hampshire," reports Jim Siegel of the Columbus Dispatch, "the Ohio Senate Ways and Means Committee heard why that plan is so unpopular with this state's businesses."

The odd couple: "U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, Ohio's top elected Democrat, praised Republican Gov. John Kasich Wednesday for his move to hold police to statewide standards for the use of deadly force," Chrissie Thompson and Deirdre Shesgreen write for the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Walking tall? Franklin County Sheriff Zach Scott, "who barely came in second to stay in the [Columbus mayoral] race and could still face a recount, is pinning his November hopes on boosting voter participation well above the 9.3 percent on Tuesday," Lucas Sullivan writes for the Dispatch.

"The sheriff called in to "All Sides with Ann Fisher" on WOSU (89.7 FM) radio yesterday to say that despite coming in 34 points behind [Andrew] Ginther, he can still win in November if enough voters show up."

Bookmark Ohio Politics Roundup: Find each morning's roundup and past editions here. Tips or links? Send here. Follow along on Twitter: @henryjgomez.