‘We’re going to win Ohio’ John Kasich Insists, Establishment ‘Ought to be Consolidating Around Me’

Gov. John Kasich says that he is going to win the Ohio Republican Presidential Primary, guaranteeing victory in his home state.

Kasich tells reporters Tuesday that it’s absurd for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) to be calling on him calls to drop out of the race and clear the establishment lane.

The Ohio governor is ahead of Rubio in recent Ohio and Michigan polls, and remains within striking distance of the Florida Senator in Massachusetts, Vermont, North Carolina, and other states.

In Ohio, he is ahead of Sen. Rubio by 13 points, according to a Quinnipiac poll published on Tuesday.

“I would hope they would be clearing the decks for me,” Kasich said Tuesday after a speech to the Georgia legislature. “I’ve spent the least amount of money and am rising in the polls. I can win my home state. Why would I clear the decks for them? They ought to be consolidating around me.”

“Everybody is getting slaughtered in their state and we’re within the margin of error,” Kasich said of the Ohio race. The poll showed he was just 5 points behind frontrunner Donald Trump, and four percentage points in front of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

In the aforementioned statement, Kasich may have been referring to Rubio, who is currently in a distant third place in Florida, according to polls.

Kasich went on to guarantee:

“We’re going to win Ohio, there’s no question about it. … The last thing I worry about is how we’re going to do in Ohio. We’re going to win Ohio.”

Separately, the Ohio Gov. expressed his pro-life bonafides when he signed a bill to defund Planned Parenthood on Monday. Planned Parenthood has denounced the legislation, saying it would have “devastating consequences for women across Ohio.”