DETROIT — Ohio Gov. John Kasich acknowledged he won’t win the Michigan primary following Fox News’s debate Thursday in the Motor City, but did say after he wins Ohio “it’ll be a whole new ballgame.”
“We’ll hold our own in Mississippi, we’ll hold our own in Michigan, and then we’re gonna win Ohio,” he told reporters in the Fox Theatre after the debate. “It’ll be a whole new ballgame.”
Kasich has been campaigning hard in the moderate Great Lakes State with three town halls scheduled in the coming days, part of his week-long bus tour. Michigan’s primary is on Tuesday, March 8.
Winning Ohio, which Kasich describes as his “home turf,” would be a long-needed boost for the governor, since it’s a winner-take-all primary. But in Michigan, Kasich is polling third with 10 percent, well behind front-runner Donald Trump, Sen. [crscore]Marco Rubio[/crscore] and Sen. [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore], according to the Real Clear Politics average.
After campaigning in the Midwest, Kasich plans on heading to the eastern seaboard. “New Jersey, Connecticut, these are places we’re going to do very well.”
Kasich, who failed to win a single state on Super Tuesday, is banking on a brokered convention if he wins the Buckeye State.
“Frankly, if I win Ohio we’re probably going to end up in a convention. A brokered convention,” he said. “My folks tell me that nobody will go to the convention with enough delegates, and then, you know, it’s a whole new situation.”
“I was in one in 1976 supporting Ronald Reagan. It’ll be very, very interesting,” the Ohio governor added.