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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One county party chair says he's running for the Ohio Republican Party leadership post, and another county leader says he won't be. -
Ohio lawmakers return after the Thanksgiving break to consider bills making changes in voting and election laws and to strip away some of the powers of the state school board and move them to the governor's office.
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The Ohio Supreme Court dismissed as moot an order to pay $300 weekly pandemic unemployment assistance checks to Ohioans who sued last year, but the state says that ruling ends the case.
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Democrats now make up a third of Ohio's Congressional delegation, but Republicans maintained their supermajority in the Ohio House and grew their number in the Senate.
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Issues 1 and 2 dealt with bail reform and non-citizens voting, and Ohio voters approved them overwhelmingly.
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Republican J.D. Vance has defeated Democrat Tim Ryan in their high-profile race for Ohio’s U.S. Senate seat.
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Republican Sharon Kennedy has defeated Democrat Jennifer Brunner in the race to become the next chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court.
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Mike DeWine, Republican, has defeated Nan Whaley, Democrat, in the race for Ohio Governor.
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The forensic investigator is raising questions about the whereabouts of a special audit of the State Teachers Retirement System announced more than a year ago, which came about after a report he did for retired Ohio teachers.
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The number of Ohioans casting ballots this year eclipsed the previous early voting record for a gubernatorial year in 2018.
