He may be in third place among likely Republican voters in Pennsylvania, but Ohio Gov. John Kasich is the only GOP candidate who beats either Democratic candidate in hypothetical general election match-ups in the state, according to a new poll.
In a matchup against Hillary Clinton, Kasich wins 51-35, and against Sen. Bernie Sanders, he wins 46-40, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.
The poll says Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Clinton are in a virtual tie, 43-42, while Donald Trump would lose, 45-42.
“Can you be mired in third place among Pennsylvania Republicans and still be your party’s best bet come Election Day?” Quinnipiac polling director Tim Malloy asked. “Welcome to Gov. John Kasich’s world, where the big prize is tantalizingly close, but blocked by two candidates with the same goal.” he said in a statement accompanying the poll’s release.
With 39 percent, Trump still leads among likely Republican primary voters in Pennsylvania, according to the poll, which was released just hours after the billionaire businessman lost the Wisconsin primary. Cruz, who won Wisconsin, has 30 percent, followed by Kasich with 24 percent.
GOP voters in Pennsylvania cast their ballot in the primary on April 26, when 71 delegates are up for grabs. However, 54 remain unbound going into July’s Republican National Convention.
Among Democrats, Clinton has a small lead over Sanders, 50-44. Sanders beat Clinton in Wisconsin Tuesday night.
The telephone-based poll of 1,737 Pennsylvania voters was conducted March 30-April 4 and has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points, which includes 578 likely Republican primary voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points, and 514 likely Democratic primary voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.
