CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Donald Trump finally exacted revenge.

On Friday, the president-elect settled scores with John Kasich and the Ohio governor's Republican machine. The first political casualty: Ohio GOP Chairman Matt Borges.

Borges, a key Kasich ally, lost the top job after a series of dramatically deadlocked votes by the state party's Central Committee. Taking his place is Jane Timken, a prominent Stark County activist and donor. Most importantly, she's the person Trump wanted at the helm.

Timken initially edged Borges by a single vote but couldn't reach the required majority in the first two rounds of secret balloting. That prompted closed-door negotiations intended to help Kasich save a little face and keep Borges from walking away completely empty-handed.

Kasich loyalists will argue that the governor's team took Trump's to overtime -- that Timken, even after the personal calls Trump made to committee members on her behalf, was unable to clinch without some last-minute horse trading. But there are no moral victories here.

This was a race that, on paper, Borges and Kasich should have nailed. Instead, Trump is the clear winner in a battle of who has the most clout over Republicans in the Buckeye State.

A few more thoughts on the Ohio GOP's realignment:

Kasich lost home-field advantage. This Central Committee is stacked with Republicans the governor has long counted as allies. Many are activists he recruited years ago in an attempt to unseat Kevin DeWine, a past Ohio GOP chief who was deemed unfriendly to Team Kasich's political interests.

Borges needed support from 34 of 66 members to remain chairman. Kasich's operatives were closely counting votes before Friday's meeting. At times they seemed confident they had a comfortable cushion with as many as a dozen votes to spare.

They were wrong.

It's tempting to see this as a referendum on Kasich. But many on the Central Committee still admire him. This is more of a referendum on how Kasich behaved last year after ending his presidential campaign. He was publicly critical of Trump and refused to vote for him.

Kasich put Borges in a bind. He owed a lot to Kasich. A Trump loss could have boosted Kasich's 2020 White House prospects and made Borges an attractive candidate for Republican National Committee chairman. Borges was lukewarm toward Trump. And Trump allies -- including the newly powerful Bob Paduchik, who will have a top role at the RNC -- made it loud and clear that they didn't trust him and preferred not to deal with him in the future.

It's uncertain where Borges goes from here. On the surface, the terms of his surrender underscore his defeat because they suggest he extracted very little in exchange.

Several GOP sources believe Borges attempted to negotiate job security for his staff, but it's not clear how much longer they will be welcome at party headquarters. He also emerged from the closed-door meetings with a title of "chairman emeritus." That can mean a lot of things, but often it means little more than honorary status. Will Borges retain any role in party strategy?

The pressure is now on Timken. GOP insiders -- even those partial to Borges -- like her because she can raise big money. But one of Timken's first orders of business will be political, not financial. She has a brutally competitive primary for governor on the horizon in 2018. Attorney General Mike DeWine, Secretary of State Jon Husted, U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci and Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor all are interested in running. The resulting battle lines could be intriguing.

DeWine and Taylor were listed among those backing Borges before Friday's vote. Husted is close with political operatives who in the past have feuded with Team Kasich. Renacci's district includes the Canton headquarters of the manufacturing company run by Timken's husband.

As party chair, Timken will have many egos to massage -- and some finesse might be needed to talk two or more of these prospects into down-ballot races or other consolation prizes.

There is a heavy dose of irony with Friday's vote. Say what you want about how Kasich and Borges handled the rise of Trump. Borges was a successful chairman.

Cleveland hosted the first GOP presidential debate and last summer's Republican National Convention. Ohio Republicans went undefeated in statewide races (including Trump's) in 2014 and 2016 and added to their already commanding majorities in the General Assembly.

Kevin DeWine and his allies made a similar argument five years ago. They had a dominant record, but that didn't stop Kasich from pushing them out in favor of his own people.

And that is precisely what Trump did Friday.