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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Gov. Mike DeWine cited the argument often repeated by Republicans — that protecting the state constitution from "out of state interests" is important. He didn't say why that must be done in August. -
A request from Ohio Senate Republicans went out from the state auditor's office to more than a thousand K-12 school fiscal officers, asking how much money their districts or institutions put toward the lawsuit against taxpayer-paid vouchers.
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When the Ohio House voted out its version of the state budget, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources lost $55 million of the increase proposed in Gov. Mike DeWine's initial spending plan.
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The two-story, 1,500 square foot house will be similar to most of the structures where Ohio firefighters will respond to calls, and it will be outfitted with electricity, heating and ventilation just like those homes are.
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Gov. Mike DeWine said shortening the terms of trustees of Ohio's public universities in a bill addressing conservatives' concerns about higher education is a "mistake.”
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Republicans say the bill will ensure more "intellectual diversity" on campus, but opponents have turned out by the hundreds over concerns about its language on controversial issues and its ban on most mandatory diversity training and faculty strikes.
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Some Ohio elections officials are reporting problems as they get ready for the August special election they opposed, in which Ohioans will vote on a constitutional amendment to make it harder to approve future amendments.
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The bill from Ohio House Democrats would use existing social studies standards to create a model curriculum that includes more multicultural information and views, while a Republican-backed bill would create an appointed task force to revise the standards.
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A Republican-backed bill would require new standards based on a conservative civics program created by a task force appointed by Ohio lawmakers and the governor.
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Ohio lawmakers have passed the resolution to require 60% voter approval for constitutional amendments, which includes an election date that could be disputed in a lawsuit.
