Kasich says he wont help Trump win Ohio

[Redban]

As a popular governor of a critical battleground state, Kasich could have offered major help.

He ought to realize that he's not just hurting Trump here; he is actually is hurting Republicans across the entire nation because of down-ballot voting. For the sake of the party, he needs to play his role.

[Redban]

He ought to realize that he's not just hurting Trump here; he is actually is hurting Republicans across the entire nation because of down-ballot voting. For the sake of the party, he needs to play his role.

How does helping (or not) Trump perform well in Ohio have any bearing on downballot voting in other states?

Because Trump is heading the ballots on all fifty states and voters pay attention to national politics, not just local. If they see Trump losing consistently in Ohio, then they might feel less inclined to vote GOP this cycle.

[Redban]

He ought to realize that he's not just hurting Trump here; he is actually is hurting Republicans across the entire nation because of down-ballot voting. For the sake of the party, he needs to play his role.

How does helping (or not) Trump perform well in Ohio have any bearing on downballot voting in other states?

Because Trump is heading the ballots on all fifty states and voters pay attention to national politics, not just local. If they see Trump losing consistently in Ohio, then they might feel less inclined to vote GOP this cycle.

That sounds like a rather ridiculous scenario to be honest.  What evidence is there that voters in a general election have their votes influenced by the performance of a presidential candidate in the polls taken in other states?

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/fixgov/posts/2016/05/19-down-ballot-president-election-effects-candidates-kamarck


Throughout history very popular presidential candidates have had “coat-tails,” meaning that the presidential candidate brought so many voters into their column that the other candidates got votes they didn’t even anticipate. And, of course, the opposite happens as well. Very unpopular presidential candidates often cause down-ballot candidates to lose. The following chart illustrates the point

[Redban]

That is different from coat-tails crossing state lines.  Show me the evidence that a presidential candidate's performance in Ohio has any bearing on congressional races in New York.  The congressional races in New York could be impacted by the presidential race in New York, but not Ohio.

No, it's not. That popular presidential candidates gain seats for the party nationwide (and unpopular presidential candidates lose seats for the party nationwide) indicates that a candidate's overall performance affects congressional (and mayoral & gubernatorial) races across the whole country.

As Ohio is a key battleground state that gets the attention of all voters, then the presidential race in Ohio can reasonably affect the congressional, mayoral, and / or gubernatorial races in NY, NH, KY, MO, MI, MA, etc.

The main point stands -- Kasich's refusal to help Trump is harmful to the Republicans across the whole nation.

[Redban]

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/2016-by-the-numbers-donald-trump-down-ballot-republicans-election/

The practice of ticket-splitting, in which a voter votes for one party at the presidential level and the other party in statewide or congressional races, has become exceedingly rare in recent years. In 2012, according to the Washington Post, only 5.7 percent of congressional districts voted for one party in the presidential race and the other party in the House race: a 90-year low.