Ohio Gov. John Kasich: President Trump isn't appealing to suburban women

Erin Kelly | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – A day after President Donald Trump stumped in Ohio, Gov. John Kasich argued that the president was hurting Republicans' chances of winning Tuesday's special election by turning off suburban women voters.

The Republican governor said he still believes GOP candidate Troy Balderson, a 56-year-old state senator, will narrowly defeat Democrat Danny O'Connor, a 31-year-old attorney and Franklin County recorder, for the chance to represent Ohio's 12th congressional district.

But Trump has made the race surprisingly close, Kasich said.

"The chaos that seems to surround Donald Trump has unnerved a lot of people," Kasich said on ABC's "This Week." "So suburban women in particular here are the ones that are really turned off. And you add to that the...Millennials, you have it very close. It’s really kind of shocking because this should be just a slam dunk (for Balderson) and it’s not."

More: Trump tells Ohio crowd Congress needs more Republicans

Tuesday's special election to fill the House seat vacated by retired GOP Rep. Patrick Tiberi is being viewed as an early test of Trump's strength in swing states in this year's midterm elections. Democrats hope to win control of the House in November, in part because of voter disaffection with Trump.

"It really doesn’t bode well for the Republican party because this shouldn’t even be contested," Kasich said of the Ohio contest.

The governor said Balderson told him he didn't ask Trump to come to Ohio to campaign for him. The president blasted Democrats during a raucous election rally for Balderson in the state on Saturday.

"I asked him, I said, 'Troy, why did you invite Trump in here, the president?'" Kasich said. "He said, 'No, I didn't.' So, you know, I think Donald Trump decides where he wants to go and I think they think they're firing up the base, but I have to tell you, at the same time that he comes in here, I was with some women last night who said, 'Hey, you know what, I'm not voting – and they're Republicans – I'm not voting for the Republicans.'"

Kasich said Balderson will still benefit from what he called O'Connor's "weak candidacy."

"The problem the Democrats have is I don't know what their message is," Kasich said. "It's sort of like anti-Trump but no message. You can't win elections if you don't have a message."

However, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, said Democrats are running on a strong message of protecting and expanding health care and increasing jobs and wages.

"We will rescue America from the grasp of an unhinged narcissist who is creating the chaos that John (Kasich) just talked about," Inslee said on ABC, referring to Trump.