Ohio Gov. John Kasich is touting Mitt Romney’s support for his presidential campaign in Utah, but the 2012 GOP nominee has urged Utahns to caucus for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Kasich’s presidential campaign released a web ad asking Utahns to caucus for the governor and featuring Romney praising Kasich. The ad shows Romney telling Ohioans that their governor has a “real record” and that “America’s counting on you.”
After Romney publicly proclaimed that a vote for Kasich in the Beehive State “makes it extremely likely that Trumpism would prevail,” Kasich tweeted out the new ad with the message, “What was true last week remains true today.”
Kasich’s play for support in Utah could dislodge votes from Cruz and indirectly deliver delegates to Donald Trump. Cruz expressed concern last week about how Kasich may willingly thwart the anti-Trump movement’s effort to stop the former reality television star in Utah.
“If Kasich manages to pull enough votes in Utah to pull me below 50 percent, the effect of John Kasich will be giving Donald Trump 20 more delegates, which I think would be a big, big mistake,” Cruz said.
Utah’s Republican nominating contest has a 50-percentage-point winner-take-all threshold that would allow the victor to earn the state’s 40 delegates. Recent polling of the Beehive State shows Cruz hovering above 50 percentage points.
Kasich has publicly expressed his desire for a contested convention this summer as his route to the Republican nomination, but he could obscure his own path if his candidacy helps Trump inch closer to the delegates needed to secure the GOP nomination.
