John Kasich's popularity may be rising in New Hampshire, but the Ohio governor's biggest rival in the race for the Republican presidential nomination is that "people don't know who John Kasich is," former Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra told
Newsmax TV on Friday.
"John's always been a change agent fighting the establishment," Hoekstra, who served from 1993 to 2011, told "Newsmax Prime" host J.D. Hayworth. "The biggest problem he has is that most people don't know who he is, what he's done — but most importantly, what he wants to accomplish in the future."
Watch Newsmax TV on
DirecTV Ch. 349, Dish Ch. 223 and
Verizon FiOS Ch. 115. Get Newsmax TV on your cable system —
Click Here Now
Hoekstra, a former House Intelligence Committee chairman, said that he did not believe that Kasich will stop front-runner Donald Trump in New Hampshire, which holds its primary on Tuesday, but that "it's the beginning of the process where John Kasich can and will be the nominee.
"He will come out of New Hampshire strong. He will, at that point and time, force a lot of people to take a look at who he is, what he's done and where he's going.
"We think that at that point and time John becomes very much a consensus and unifying candidate for Republicans, for independents and also for some Democrats," Hoekstra said.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.