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. In addition to other election-related debates, she's led forums on statewide issues including redistricting, tax policy, drug sentencing, marijuana legalization and the collective bargaining law known as Senate Bill 5.
She's produced features for NPR and "Marketplace", and has been interviewed by NPR, the BBC, CBS, NBC, Radio New Zealand 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 Anna Staver" 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.
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Ohio’s Republican attorney general announced this week that six Ohioans have been indicted for illegal voting between 2008 and 2020. -
For the second time in state history, the candidates for Ohio Supreme Court are running under party labels, and there are some big differences between those running for each seat. -
Boards of elections are dealing with residents who are using a state law to challenge other Ohioans’ right to vote – in some cases, by the thousands. -
The number of Ohioans in poverty stayed steady from last year, but the number of children living in poverty is concerning the state’s community action agencies. -
An order from Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose saying people can't assist other voters by putting their ballots into a secure drop box has been upheld by the Ohio Supreme Court. -
The state’s revenue numbers for September include the impact of the sales tax holiday, expanded to 10 days this year and including nearly anything under $500. -
A bipartisan proposal is coming to ask Ohio voters to renew a program that allows the state to issue bonds for local infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges. -
The number of Ohioans killed in domestic violence incidents in the last fiscal year ticked up a bit, with kids comprising more than a dozen of those deaths. -
The head of the conservative organization behind the Project 2025 initiative was in Columbus to headline a gathering of one of the state’s most influential groups, the Center for Christian Virtue. -
Gov. Mike DeWine is continuing to walk a fine line on questions about former president Trump’s comments and legal immigrants in Springfield.
