COLUMBUS, Ohio – In two out of three crucial swing states, voters appear to favor their native sons in the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, according to a poll released Thursday morning.
Gov. John Kasich gets nod from 20 percent of Ohio’s Republican voters while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush leads in the Sunshine State with 24 percent, according to the Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll.
“Gov. John Kasich’s decision about whether to join the presidential campaign at least for now is the big unknown in the Buckeye State. If he runs, he would be the early leader at home, although his appeal in other states is yet to be shown,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Poll.
Kasich, who just won reelection to a second term, has kept a tight lid on hints about any presidential aspirations.
Pennsylvania GOP voters were leaning toward Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker,
Despite a controversy over her use of personal e-mails as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton leads her nearest challenger by a 3-1 margin in the three states, Brown said.
The poll focuses on those states because since 1960 no candidate has won the presidential race without taking at least two of them.
Bush’s support in Ohio dropped to 8 percent from 10 percent in a Feb. 4 poll. Walker, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee got 9 percent each and Ben Carson got 8 percent.
Although the front-runner in his home state, Bush saw his support in Florida fall from 32 percent in the February poll. Walker is next with 15 percent, with U.S. Sen Marco Rubio at 12 percent.
In Pennsylvania, 14 percent of GOP voters favored Walker at 14 percent with 9 percent each for Carson, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum and Bush, who was at 12 percent last month.
The poll, conducted March 17-28 has a margin of error of +/- 4.9 percent among Republicans and +/- 5.4 percent among Democrats.