What John Kasich Needs to Do After New Hampshire
— -- Many people nationwide don’t even know how to pronounce his name.
But that didn’t matter for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who exceeded expectations on Tuesday night to grab the coveted second place spot in the New Hampshire Republican primary with 16 percent of the vote.
Kasich and his allies, who had placed all of his electoral chips on the Granite State, snatched a majority of the state’s newspaper endorsements and poured millions of dollars into TV and radio ads.
But from here, he faces stiff competition as the race turns to the next major contests. New Hampshire’s electorate is one of the most moderate of the early-voting states. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has the backing of home-state Sen. Lindsey Graham. Former President George W. Bush is also expected to hit the campaign trail in South Carolina for his younger brother. Sen. Marco Rubio has roots in Nevada. And Donald Trump leads polls in both states.
Still, the New Hampshire victory will certainly keep Kasich’s top donors around. In fact, since 1952, no Republican candidate has received the nomination without a first or second place finish in the Granite State.
"It's a long race. We're going to go through South Carolina, ultimately to the Midwest," Kasich told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America" today. "This is a long, long race."
Kasich is very popular in his home state of Ohio, where the winner takes all of the state's 66 delegates. Still, the Buckeye State doesn’t vote until March 15, so it’s not clear whether Kasich can survive until then without another victory.
The Ohio governor also has his eye on Michigan, where he has scheduled several events and hopes to win delegates on March 8. Still, it may be challenging for him to pull off a big win on March 1 or "Super Tuesday" -- the day 14 states will hold their primaries or caucuses.
Regardless, the GOP nominating process is far from over, as the New Hampshire primary did little to winnow the GOP field. Most GOP candidates have already pledged to continue their campaigns into South Carolina.
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