John Kasich plans for "whole new ball game" with Ohio win
As one of the first winner-take-all states - other being Florida - Ohio may be the most pivotal state in Tuesday's presidential primaries and a last chance to stop Donald Trump from a path to the Republican nomination.
The only likely candidate to stand in the way of another Trump victory in the Buckeye state is John Kasich, who is locked in a tight battle with the GOP frontrunner. The latest CBS News poll shows the rivals are neck and neck -- 33 to 33 -- but the governor expressed confidence that he'd seal a victory in his home state.
"We're going to win Ohio and then it's a whole new ball game..." Kasich told "CBS This Morning" Tuesday. "I've had more attention in the last two weeks than I've had really since I started this campaign... and I think the people will reward me for two reasons - one, a good record as I stated and secondly, because I'm not going to take the low road to the highest office in the land."
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Kasich touted his accomplishments in Ohio, including creating over 400,000 jobs, building wages, strong credit and a $2 billion surplus and cutting taxes by over $5 billion.
He also separated himself from his GOP rivals with his "positive" outlook on the campaign trail.
"...I think the positive message, a positive record, accomplishments and vision -- that's what works in America - uniting people, not diving them, not creating a toxic atmosphere," Kasich said.
Trump currently leads with the most delegates -- 457, compared to Kasich's 61 -- the least of the remaining four GOP candidates. Ohio has 66 delegates up for grabs. Kasich hopes to slow down Trump's momentum by winning Ohio and other moderate states on the primary calendar.
"I don't know where this is going to end up for sure. It is unlikely that anybody is going to have the delegates they need, which means that you're going to have a convention of delegates who's going to sit down and not respond to name calling, wrestling in the mud, and I think we'd pick somebody good," Kasich said.