Karen Kasler
Bureau ChiefContact Karen at 614-578-6375 or at kkasler@statehousenews.org.
Karen Kasler grew up in Lancaster, attended Otterbein College in Westerville, and found her professional break at WCBE-FM in Columbus. Karen was selected as a Fellow in the Kiplinger Master's Degree Program for Mid-Career Journalists at Ohio State University in 1994. She worked at WTVN-AM and WBNS-TV, both in Columbus, then for eight years was the afternoon drive anchor and assignment editor for WTAM-AM, Cleveland.
Since returning to Columbus in 2004, Karen has covered major elections and the controversies surrounding them. She served as moderator for the Ohio Debate Commission's Republican US Senate debate in 2022, its Supreme Court debate in 2020 and its gubernatorial debate in 2018. She was also a moderator or panelist for US Senate debates for the last four Senatorial elections and for a gubernatorial debate in 2006. She's also led debates and discussions on statewide issues such as drug sentencing, marijuana legalization, redistricting and the collective bargaining law known as Senate Bill 5. Each year she anchors the Bureau's live coverage of the Governor's State of the State, and has led coverage of the inaugurations of the last three governors.
She's produced features for NPR and "Marketplace", and has been interviewed by NPR, the BBC, CBS, NBC and stations around the country. She's a regular panelist on ideastream's "The Sound of Ideas" and a frequent guest on WOSU-TV’s “Columbus on the Record”, WOSU-FM's "All Sides with Ann Fisher" and WVXU's "Cincinnati Edition".
Karen has been honored by the Cleveland Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists and the Association of Capitol Editors and Reporters, and holds a National Headliner Award. She's won several awards from the Ohio AP, and is a four-time winner of the AP's Best Broadcast Writing award. She's a three-time Emmy nominee for "The State of Ohio". She's a past president of the Ohio Associated Press and has served on the Board of Directors for the Central Ohio Society of Professional Journalists. Karen is also a former adjunct professor at Capital University in Columbus.
Karen, her husband and their son Jack live on Columbus' northeast side.
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The Ohio Supreme Court ruled 5-2 on a lawsuit from a now-retired journalist who filed requests for that data while tracking COVID in 2020 and 2021.
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Now that winter is over, road construction season is underway in Ohio, with nearly a thousand projects planned this year.
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April 15 is the peak, but of course tax season started weeks ago when W-2s and other paperwork was sent out in Ohio and across the country.
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The state of Ohio’s investigation into the House Bill 6 nuclear power plant corruption scandal continues, in spite of the suspected suicide of the former public utilities commission chair.
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Gov. Mike DeWine's State of the State got some positive reviews, but also received pushback from legislators in his own party.
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The Democratic National Convention is set for after Ohio's candidate certification deadline, but Democrats said they think there are options to ensuring President Biden is on the ballot besides state lawmakers taking action by May 9.
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Former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio chair Sam Randazzo, accused of heavy involvement in the state's largest bribery scheme, died by suicide Tuesday morning.
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The six new rules came after a survey of Ohio pharmacists in 2020 revealed concerns about short staffing, long hours and lack of rest breaks.
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The office of Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose has notified the Ohio Democratic Party that its nominating convention falls after the state’s presidential candidate certification deadline.
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More than 60 names are on the potential witness list for the state in the trial of former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio chair Sam Randazzo and former FirstEnergy executives Chuck Jones and Michael Dowling.