John Kasich to end White House bid, sources say

Ohio Governor John Kasich will suspend his presidential campaign on Wednesday, his aides told US media, a move that would leave front-runner Donald Trump as the sole Republican candidate in the White House race.

Kasich’s campaign abruptly canceled an event in the Washington area and rescheduled a press conference for 5:00 p.m. (2100 GMT) in Ohio’s capital Columbus.

Broadcaster MSNBC and others reported that a senior campaign adviser said that appearance would be Kasich’s announcement that he is dropping out of the 2016 race.

Though armed with an extensive resume in politics, the second-term Ohio governor struggled to connect with Republican primary voters in a year dominated by anti-establishment frustration. Kasich was a more moderate candidate who embraced elements of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul and called for an optimistic and proactive Republican agenda.

Rival Ted Cruz, a conservative senator from Texas, bowed out late Tuesday after Trump’s commanding Indiana win made it far more likely that the real estate billionaire would reach the 1,237 delegates necessary to win the party’s nomination and avoid a contested convention.

News that his last remaining rival would suspend his campaign came as a surprise to Trump.

“That’s good. That’s nice. That’s interesting. It’s very interesting,” Trump told a TIME magazine interviewer when he learned of Kasich’s decision. “Hmm … That’s big. I didn’t think that was going to happen.”

With no GOP opponents left, Trump has an open path to represent the party in the November general election — presumably against Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.