Pro-Kasich group says Bush donors expressing interest

The super-PAC supporting John Kasich’s bid for the Republican presidential nomination says some of opponent Jeb Bush’s donors are reaching out and expressing interest in potentially supporting the Ohio governor.

The Washington Post first reported the news late Wednesday, and an official for the pro-Kasich group, New Day for America, confirmed the conversations to The Hill.

{mosads}The official did not provide any further details about who has reached out, whether the donors were considering providing financial support to both candidates, or if the campaign had received any new commitments of support.

Still, it’s the latest sign of the growing threat Bush faces from Kasich. Both candidates are running as centrist Republicans and pragmatists with establishment appeal.

Kasich was viewed by many as one of the winners of the first Republican presidential debate, held earlier this month, and he’s since seen his standing improve in polls nationally, as well as in New Hampshire, where he’s staking his campaign.

According to the RealClearPolitics average of polls, front-runner Donald Trump has a double-digit lead over the GOP field in the Granite State, with Bush in second place at 11 percent support, followed closely by Kasich at 10 percent.

Kasich has been camping out in New Hampshire and his political team is dominated by influential figures in the state, as well as veterans of 2012 nominee Mitt Romney’s operations there.

In addition, New Day for America has been spending heavily in New Hampshire, having already booked a staggering $4 million in TV ads for July and August.

Bush’s super-PAC, Right to Rise, will begin spending in New Hampshire soon. The group has booked an estimated $15 million that will be spread across the carve-out states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.

On Thursday, Politico reported that an intern at the Bush campaign issued a public records request to an economic development agency in Ohio seeking background information on Kasich.

A spokesman for the former Florida governor’s campaign told the DC publication it was “basic campaign due diligence.”

“We have interns monitor the events and collect information on the records of all the candidates — including Jeb — as standard operating procedure to have full information awareness,” Bush spokesman Tim Miller told Politico. “We have seen many of the same requests about Jeb under Florida Sunshine Act and emails to reporters from GOP campaigns and we would expect as much.”