Ohio Governor John Kasich is the first candidate to campaign in Connecticut.
Speaking to a crowd of about 800 supporters at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield on Friday, Kasich said he’s optimistic he’ll win the GOP nomination despite coming third in most of the primaries.
The candidate is also optimistic he’ll win the state’s April 26 Republican primary.
Kasich presents himself as a moderate alternative to front-runners Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. He spoke to an appreciative crowd. But he tried to be practical about what he could actually do as president, as evident in his answer to a question about the possibility of a flat tax.
“You want me to make you feel good or you want me to tell you the truth? If we were to start all over again, you know, probably a flat tax would make sense, but that’s not where we are,” Kasich said.
Gary Rose, professor and chair of the Department of Government, Politics and Global Studies at Sacred Heart University, said Kasich’s message should play well in Connecticut even though he lacks the fiery rhetoric of his competitors.
“This state is really tailor-made for a candidate like John Kasich. He is not one of these programmatic, ideological candidates like Ted Cruz," said Rose. "He’s also not a reckless candidate like Donald Trump. It’s an establishment state.”
Kasich is trailing Trump and Cruz in delegates. But he said he could still win in a brokered convention. Connecticut’s 28 Republican delegates are a small prize compared to New York’s 95 delegates and Pennsylvania’s 71. But in this election, every delegate seems to count.
