I fully expect Kasich to switch to the Democrat Party in the near future anyway, as it is obvious to me that he is more of a Democrat than he is a Republican. His only real selling point as a Republican was economic based, on social issues he has always been a squishy liberal. Now that he no longer even touts the economic conservative meme, there is no reason for him to remain a Republican.
I always saw Kasich as a big-government, open-borders globalist -- which means he's perfectly aligned with the Republican Party. I think the entire GOP gave up on the "economic conservative meme" around the time Ronald Reagan left office.