John Kasich is right behind Ted Cruz and is in a close battle for second place in Michigan, although both still trail Donald Trump by double digits, according to a new poll.
A new Monmouth University poll released Monday says Trump has 36 percent of the vote from likely GOP primary voters. Cruz is 13 points behind with 23 percent, while Kasich has 21 percent. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is a distant fourth with just 13 percent.
But the poll also shows Kasich with some momentum coming out of the weekend. The survey was conducted Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and it found Trump with a larger lead the first two days, while it tightened the next two.
Between Thursday-Friday and Saturday-Sunday, Kasich surged nine points, while Trump fell by seven points. And in the weekend poll, Kasich actually topped Cruz for second place.
“After this past weekend’s mixed bag of results, Trump appears positioned for a win in Michigan, but the race may be tightening in the final hours,” Monmouth pollster Patrick Murray said. “Trump’s support may be dropping, while Kasich’s star could be rising.”
While 13 percent polled said they have already voted early, 36 percent are completely decided on their candidate. Another 29 percent indicated a strong preference for their candidate, while 9 percent indicated a slight preference and 14 percent said they are undecided about a number of candidates.
The poll of 402 likely Republican primary voters was conducted between March 3 and March 6 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
The primary in Michigan, which neighbors Kasich’s home state of Ohio, is March 15.
