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.
-
The $90 billion Ohio teachers’ pension fund was the issue in a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the state to remove two of its board members, and at a meeting a few hours later the board voted to install one of those two as chair.
-
Turmoil at the $90 billion Ohio STRS pension fund has gone from the meeting room to the courtroom and back.
-
A Republican state lawmaker has introduced a pair of bills to change Ohio's laws related to disclosure and exposure to the virus that causes AIDS.
-
Hundreds of child care facilities in Ohio closed on Monday and their workers rallied at the Statehouse to draw attention to what’s becoming a crisis for parents – finding affordable day care.
-
Officials with the Cleveland Browns have approached some state lawmakers with a funding request for a new or renovated stadium asking for as much as $600 million, or a quarter of the cost.
-
Republican lawmakers who touted $3.1 billion in tax cuts in the budget that took effect last July said higher-than-expected refunds are leading to Ohio's lagging tax collections.
-
A Republican lawmaker who’s leaving the Ohio House at the end of the year has introduced a bill to allow law enforcement to stop a driver for not wearing a seat belt – which Gov. Mike DeWine endorsed in his State of the State speech last month.
-
Two Republican lawmakers have proposed some new regulations related to guns – but not targeted at the weapons themselves, but people who have them but aren’t legally permitted to.
-
Democrats in the Ohio House and Senate say the Republican-dominated legislature is playing politics with the issue.
-
Among the demands of pro-Palestine protesters around the country has been for higher education institutions to withdraw investments in Israel or companies with ties to Israel. But that can’t happen in Ohio.