Is John Kasich the GOP Kingmaker?
The Wisconsin primary is expected to be a crucial contest in the race for the Republican nomination, as all three candidates look to increase their delegate count to keep their bids ahead of a potential contested Republican convention.
With the GOP primary just one week from Tuesday, front-runner Donald Trump looks to expand his lead, Texas Senator Ted Cruz seeks to narrow the margin and Ohio Governor John Kasich could find himself in an influential position.
In an interview with the FOX Business Network’s Varney & Co., host Stuart Varney presented the scenario to former Wisconsin Governor Scott McCallum of Kasich playing the kingmaker. Meaning, whoever receives Kasich’s delegates and support – should he drop out of the race – would win the GOP presidential nomination.
“The seat he’s [Kasich] going for is the seat in the White House,” McCallum said. “Nobody runs to be a kingmaker. And in this case in particular, he’s got many supporters who believe he’s the unifier, would be the best person to serve as president of the United States.”
McCallum, a Kasich supporter, expects a very close race between Trump and Cruz with Kasich running a strong third. The former governor’s home state of Wisconsin is pretty much split with Republican suburban areas negative towards Trump and rural areas more supportive of Cruz.
“A lot of money is being put in, including in the state of Wisconsin, to prevent Donald Trump from having the number of delegates at the [GOP] convention,” McCallum said. He continued to say, “There’s a lot of money coming in basically telling people to vote for Cruz to be able to stop Trump.”
McCallum says he would only support Donald Trump as the Republican nominee if Trump moves more to the middle and becomes a unifier.
Wisconsin is an open primary race, meaning registered voters from any political party can participate.