In a Monday interview with Bret Baier on Fox News, Ohio Gov. John Kasich insisted that he still has a chance to win the Republican nomination, but the mathematical odds aren’t in his favor.
Currently, Kasich is polling in last place, at an average of 18.6 percent nationally, while Donald Trump is at 40 percent, and Ted Cruz is at 27.4 percent, according to Real Clear Politics.
“Exit polls, this poll, that poll — if it had been on that I never would’ve run!” Kasich said. “Up until now, no one knew who I was. They thought my name was ‘Governor of Ohio.’ Finally I’m getting some attention! People can hear my message!”
When it comes to primary contests, Kasich has only managed to win his home state of Ohio – his performance there and elsewhere have netted him a total of 143 delegates, or roughly 10 percent of the 1,428 delegates which have been distributed throughout the primary process thus far. By contrast, Trump has won 680 delegates and Cruz is holding onto 424 delegates.
To win the GOP nomination outright, a candidate must win 1,237 delegates before the Republican Convention. Kasich has locked up 143, and there are only 1,044 delegates that remain up for grabs.
Even if Kasich somehow managed to win every single state and earn every single one of the remaining delegates, he would only have a total of 1,187 delegates, which is 50 shy of the magic number.
In other words, it’s mathematically impossible for Kasich to win the Republican nomination outright. His only chance at possibly becoming the nominee is through a contested convention, which is what he is counting on.
“I don’t believe anybody is going to have the delegates,” Kasich said. “I think we’re going to go to a convention, and I think the convention is going to pick someone who can win in the fall and beat Hillary.”
In another interview, Baier interviewed Cruz, who said he can’t understand why Kasich is still in the race.
“I have no good explanation,” he said.
“Maybe he’s auditioning to be Donald Trump’s vice president,” Cruz said. “Every vote for Kasich is a vote for Donald Trump.”
In both the North Carolina and Missouri primaries, which Trump won, Cruz would’ve likely been able to get enough votes to secure a victory had Kasich dropped out of the race, according to exit polls.
“If John Kasich were not in the race, we would get to 1,237 [delegates],” Cruz said. “Kasich’s role is a spoiler.”
