Gov. John Kasich to Hold Rockville Town Hall Monday

ROCKVILLE, MD — Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who says that he is the only GOP candidate who can defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton in the November election, will campaign in Rockville Monday.

Campaign aides say Kasich will appear at a town hall event on April 25 at Thomas Farms Community Center, 700 Fallsgrove Drive in Rockville.

Doors will open at 1 p.m., while the program begins at 2 p.m. Reserve tickets for the Kasich town hall online.

Kasich has consistently polled in second place among Maryland Republicans planning to cast their vote in the Tuesday, April 26, presidential primary.

A Real Clear Politics average of the most recent Maryland polls gives New York businessman Donald Trump the lead among GOP voters, with 41 percent support. Kasich follows with 26.3 percent, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz comes in third place at 24.5 percent.

Along with Maryland, April 26 is primary election day in Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

As the nomination process winds down and the national party convention in Cleveland edges closer, pundits and campaigns are endlessly debating whether Trump’s juggernaut of popular support will continue long enough to deliver him the GOP nomination on the first vote. Kasich and others say it won’t, which then opens the process up to a virtual free-for-all, with delegates then able to switch allegiances.

It’s at that point, Kasich has said, that Republicans may come to their senses and make him their standard-bearer.

Polls show Kasich is the only Republican who would beat Hillary Clinton, but the only primary he has won is his home state of Ohio.

Cruz made much the same pitch this week to party leaders, noting he’s won multiple states, and is best positioned to win a contested floor fight in July.

He called Kasich "an honorable and decent man who's only role in this election is as a spoiler," NBC News reports, and speculated the governor may be running to be Trump's vice president.

Kasich disagreed: "I'm not running for anybody's vice president, man, I'm gonna be the nominee when all's said and done."

Polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday across Maryland.

A Monmouth University Poll also found that Gov. Larry Hogan’s reservations about the frontrunner have little effect on Maryland voters. Just over half (53%) of likely primary voters have heard about Hogan’s comments that Trump should not be the party’s nominee. The vast majority (83%) of voters, though, say Hogan’s position will have no impact on their own vote.

Races from presidential contests to the state legislature will be on ballots across Maryland.

» Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr / Creative Commons