Kasich sees record-high approval in Ohio

by Jesse Byrnes - 10/08/15 12:01 PM ET

Gov. John Kasich, a Republican presidential candidate, has a record-high approval rating in his home state of Ohio, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday.

Sixty-two percent of Ohio voters approve of the way Kasich is handling his job, his highest rating ever in the poll, while 29 percent don’t approve and 9 percent don’t know.

{mosads}Forty-two percent of Democrats surveyed approve of Kasich’s job, while 45 percent don’t.

Those high marks for Kasich demonstrate his popularity in the swing state even as his support there for the Republican presidential nomination has slipped recently.

The governor came in third with 13 percent support in the same Quinnipiac University poll, behind billionaire Donald Trump (23 percent) and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson (18 percent).

Kasich led trump by 6 points, 27 to 21 percent, in the poll in late August, while Carson surged there.

Kasich downplayed those numbers during an interview Thursday on “CBS This Morning,” pointing to his high approval rating in his home state and efforts to lock up support in New Hampshire.

The survey of 1,180 Ohio voters was conducted Sept. 25 through Oct. 5 with a margin of error of 2.9 points. The polling of 433 Republicans has a margin of error of 4.7 points.

Tags 2016 Republican presidential primary John Kasich