Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz would receive a significant boost in support from conservative voters if Gov. John Kasich dropped out of the race and left the Texas senator to duke it out with front-runner Donald Trump, according to a new national poll.
Public Policy Polling found 42 percent of likely Republican voters would choose Trump if the election was held today, while 32 percent backed Cruz and 22 percent stumped for Kasich.
But when asked who they would back if the Ohio governor suspended his campaign, voters jumped overwhelmingly to Cruz over Trump by a rate of 51-23 percent, respectively.
“The Republican race nationally would be a toss up if it was just Trump and Cruz,” said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling. “But as long as Kasich stays in there splitting the anti-Trump vote, Trump continues to be in a good position.”
It’s possible for Cruz to pick up Kasich’s supporters, too, because the third-ranked candidate had the least committed supporters. A net 49 percent of Kasich backers said they would stick with him, while 66 percent of Cruz’s supporters said they were committed and 80 percent of Trump fans were sure about their decision.
The poll had a 4.4 percent margin of error.
