Poll: Kasich lacks recognition as GOP prez contender

By Marc Kovac | April 24, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

COLUMBUS

Gov. John Kasich still isn’t registering with voters nationally, according to a new survey released Thursday by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Among potential Republican presidential contenders, Kasich received nods from 2 percent of 1,353 registered voters nationally who were questioned over the past week.

That’s about the same response Kasich has received over seven polls by the Connecticut-based institute since December 2013.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio topped the latest Quinnipiac poll, with 15 percent, followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush with 13 percent and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker at 11 percent.

No other Republican candidate had double-digit support.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton remains the top choice among Democratic candidates, with 60 percent of those questioned supporting her.

In potential general election match-ups, Rubio is running nearly even with Clinton, with 45 percent of those polled siding with the latter and 43 percent with the former.

Clinton and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul also were close, with 4 percentage points separating them. Five other Republican presidential hopefuls were within 5-7 percentage points in a poll that had a margin of error of about 4 percentage points.

“The youngest member of the GOP presidential posse moves to the front of the pack to challenge Hillary Clinton, whose position in her own party appears rock solid,” Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a released statement.

Kasich was set to travel to Washington, D.C., on Thursday for two days of events, including offering comments during an economic summit and participating in a press conference urging adoption of a federal balanced-budget amendment.

The trip came about a week after the governor was in South Carolina and New Hampshire and a few days after he launched a website, www.newdayforamerica.com, to accept contributions and urge users to submit ideas.

Kasich has not yet formally committed to a presidential run, however.