HAMDEN, Conn. -- Today marks three weeks until Ohio's March 15 presidential primary, and the Buckeye State's governor trails Republican front-runner Donald Trump by a margin of five points.
Among likely Republican voters in Ohio, Trump holds 31 percent of the vote while John Kasich stands at 26 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday.
The poll reports Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is at 21 percent, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio holds 13 percent and Dr. Ben Carson rounds out the field with 5 percent of voters supporting him.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton holds a sizeable lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders from Vermont. The Quinnipiac University poll reports 55 percent of Ohio's likely Democratic primary voters support Clinton while 40 percent back Sanders.
Five percent of Republicans remain undecided and 38 percent of those who name a candidate say they might change their mind before the March 15 primary.
"A Kasich Ohio win is crucial to the Republicans trying to stop the New York businessman's nomination," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. "If Trump can defeat Kasich in his home state, that would be an impressive demonstration of his strength in a state that is just now getting attention. But Trump's lead is just 5 points, certainly not large enough for him to breathe easy."
Wondering about how these results were found? From Feb. 16 to 20, Quinnipiac University surveyed 759 Ohio likely Republican primary voters with a margin of error of +/- 3.6 percentage points and 518 Ohio likely Democratic primary voters with a margin of error of +/- 4.3 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.
