GOP 2016 Debate

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, left, points to the audience with Donald Trump during a commercial break in the first Republican presidential debate last August at The Q in Cleveland.

(Andrew Harnik, The Associated Press)

John Kasich wrestles with Donald Trump. Rush Limbaugh mocks Kasich's confetti. Read more in Ohio Politics Roundup.

John Kasich, unplugged: The Ohio governor vowed earlier this week to no longer hold his tongue when Donald Trump says something incendiary. On Thursday, he made good on the promise. Kasich, reports cleveland.com's Andrew J. Tobias, took to Twitter to condemn Trump's suggestion that the Republican presidential front-runner's supporters could riot at this summer's Cleveland convention if he is not awarded the nomination.

"Donald Trump said there could be riots if he's 'denied' the GOP nom in a contested convention," Kasich said in a series of tweets. "That's more unacceptable language. This implicit acceptance of violence is the kind of rhetoric that's pulling people apart."

Kasich goes even further: "It's completely outrageous," Kasich tells ABC News' Jonathan Karl. "For somebody running for president of the United States to say - to even imply - that there could be violence if he doesn't get his way ... you know, he's not running for the presidency of WWE, he's running for president of the United States."

About this new approach: "I'm going to say things when I feel compelled to say them," Kasich says in an interview with Yahoo Politics' Matt Bai. "More combative? I don't like the sound of that. I'm not interested in being combative, but every once in a while, when you see something that makes your blood boil, I think you should say something about it."

Trump on his Ohio primary loss: "Looking like my 5 victories on Tuesday will be just as good as if I won Ohio," the real estate mogul said on Twitter. "Two more days and Ohio was mine!"

As for the first part, a Princeton neuroscientist might not disagree. Sam Wang, known for predicting election results based on math, told a Northern Kentucky University audience this week that a three-person race is better for Trump heading forward, the Kentucky Enquirer's Scott Wartman reports. Kasich would have dropped out had he lost Ohio to Trump.

As for the other remaining Republican ... "If [Texas Sen. Ted] Cruz does plan to escalate hostilities, he seems likely to highlight Mr. Kasich's decision to expand Medicaid in Ohio under the Affordable Care Act, a decision that puts him at odds with many conservatives," the New York Times' Matt Flegenheimer and Thomas Kaplan report. "Mr. Kasich's team believes that Mr. Cruz's message will not be well received in more moderate states that have yet to vote, like New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where Mr. Kasich was born and raised."

Rush job: Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh - not exactly a Kasich fan - rained on Kasich's parade Thursday, mocking the governor's primary night celebration. "It was breathtaking to behold," Limbaugh told his listeners. I mean, the guy launches his own confetti shower as though he's just won the Super Bowl. He's won one state. Not even a factor here."

Doggone it: "Kasich told an Ohio crowd, 'You know what Truman said, 'You want a friend in Washington, buy a dog.'' Though that statement is often attributed to Truman, there's no evidence Truman ever actually said that," PolitiFact's Nadia Pflaum reports.

Lessons from the Ohio primary: "What should we conclude from the primary results in a state that very well could be the difference between victory or defeat for both sides this fall?" Kyle Kondik, an Ohio native and political analyst with Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, asks and answers in a piece for Politico Magazine.

The politics of the Tamir Rice case: "Michael O'Malley swept to victory in the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's race largely on overwhelming support in black communities, a cleveland.com analysis of election returns found. O'Malley won all 282 precincts that are estimated to have a majority black voting-age population, and did so convincingly, picking up 70 percent of the vote in those areas. Elsewhere, incumbent Timothy J. McGinty won by the thin margin of 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent," cleveland.com's Rich Exner reports.

"O'Malley was supported by U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge, a Warrensville Heights Democrat who represents parts of Cleveland and eastern suburbs, and by prominent members of Cleveland clergy. They stated publicly they believe McGinty mishandled the prosecution of two Cleveland police officers involved in the shooting death of a black 12-year-old, Tamir Rice."

A win for the Franklin County Democratic machine: "The party ran a coordinated campaign against incumbents Sheriff Zach Scott, Commissioner Paula Brooks and Recorder Terry 'TJ' Brown, who had become the elected faces of an uprising within the party," the Columbus Dispatch's Rick Rouan reports. "Party leaders and elected officials on their team recruited opponents, endorsed them and threw resources behind their campaigns.

"Voters ousted all three targeted incumbents, and as collateral damage they swept out incumbent Treasurer Ed Leonard, the party's own endorsed candidate, along with them."

Backpage.com busted for contempt of Congress: It's "the first such charge in more than 20 years," cleveland.com's Stephen Koff reports - and it comes "for refusing to abide by subpoenas seeking to uncover connections between the company and child prostitution."

"Senators, led by Ohio Republican Rob Portman, say that the company facilitates child prostitution nationwide by accepting ads for sexual services on its city-by-city websites, even when it might have grounds to suspect that the prostitutes are minors."

Biden time: Vice President Joe Biden will be in Cincinnati next week to campaign for Portman's Democratic re-election challenger, former Gov. Ted Strickland, reports WCPO Channel 9 in Cincinnati. Local media there previously reported that Biden's appearance includes a fundraiser.

Terry Collins, former Ohio prisons director, dies: "After spending nearly 33 years working in prisons - and witnessing 33 men executed - Collins moved into retirement," the Columbus Dispatch's Alan Johnson writes. "Shortly after that, he joined forces with Ohioans to Stop Executions, speaking frequently against capital punishment at legislative hearings and appearances around the state."

Collins, who died of apparent heart attack, was 63.

Get Battleground Briefing, our FREE politics newsletter, delivered to your inbox: Sign up here. Tips or links? Send here. Follow along on Twitter: @HenryJGomez.