John Kasich, governor of Ohio, losing support back home for presidential run: poll

Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s voters back home have had enough of his long-shot presidential run and want him to drop out of the race, according to a new poll.

Only 38 percent of Ohio voters want the governor to stay in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, compared to 49 percent who want him to quit, according to the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling survey that was released Monday.

Mr. Kasich, who is running a distant third in the three-man race and so far has won only the primary in his home state, had much stronger support from Ohio voters just two months ago. The same poll in early March found 52 percent of Buckeye State voters wanted him to keep running for president and 34 percent wanted him to drop out.

In the new poll, Mr. Kasich’s numbers are worse with Republicans than Democrats. About 58 percent of GOP voters in Ohio think the governor should end his run, while 33 percent of Democrats feel the same way, according to the survey.

Mr. Kasich and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas have been mathematically eliminated from winning the nomination outright. Their only strategy is to block front-runner Donald Trump from securing the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination, force a brokered convention in July and win it after multiple ballots.

Part of the problem for Mr. Kasich is that voters feel he has neglected his duties as governor. Only 31 percent saying he pays enough attention to his current job, compared to 49 percent who think the presidential campaign has diverted his attention from gubernatorial duties.

Ohio voters were particularly unhappy about footing the bill for his security on the campaign trail, which has cost the state’s taxpayers more than $450,000, the poll found.

About 66 percent of voters told the pollsters that they oppose paying for Mr. Kasich’s security for the campaign, compared to 22 percent who said they didn’t mind the expenditure.

“Ohio voters were pretty supportive of John Kasich’s presidential ambitions for a while. But now they’re ready for him to wrap it up as his prospects grow smaller and the bill for taxpayers related to his campaign gets larger and larger,” said Dean Debnam, president of the polling firm.