Moderate Republicans overwhelmingly flocked to GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump rather than establishment-aligned John Kasich, according to CNN exit polls out of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Connecticut late Tuesday.
The New York businessman snagged the majority of moderate voters in all three states. In Maryland, Trump won 49 percent of middle-of-the-road voters while 37 percent backed Kasich and 12 percent jumped behind Tea Party darling Ted Cruz.
Trump, who won the Old Line State’s Republican primary, also stole 54 percent of conservative Republicans’ support.
Moderates in Connecticut awarded Trump with the same level of support, a net 49 percent of centrists’ support. Kasich finished much closer to Trump though, winning 45 percent of support while Cruz nested 5 percent.
Trump, the political outsider, performed best among Connecticut’s conservative Republican population, snagging 64 percent while Kasich and Cruz both took in less than 20 percent.
In Pennsylvania, the eastern neighbor to Kasich’s home state of Ohio, Trump won 58 percent of moderates and 57 percent of conservatives. Kasich lost at a higher rate among Keystone State residents than in Maryland, snagging 27 percent while Cruz finished in third with 13 percent of moderate support.
