According to current political polls, Ohio Gov. John Kasich its currently in third place in New Hampshire
With just two weeks until the New Hampshire primary and less than a week until the Iowa caucuses, Republican presidential candidates are trying their best to secure every last vote they can.
According to the latest polls from Real Clear Politics, Ohio Gov. John Kasich has managed to climb to nearly 12 percent in New Hampshire, propelling him to third place right behind Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Businessman Donald Trump is still leading the pack at roughly 33 percent.
This time last month, Kasich was fifth in New Hampshire with only 9 percent, trailing behind Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Cruz and Trump.
Despite his numbers in New Hampshire, Kasich is tied with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for seventh in national polls.
For the past two weeks, Rubio, Cruz and Kasich have been battling for second in New Hampshire. Kasich managed to get a lead against both of them for the majority of last week but fell behind Cruz in Saturday's polls, leaving him in third.
There are many things that could be fueling Kasich’s recent rise in the polls.
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="43874fd8-be17-11e5-ab09-eba585f5510a"}}
According to Kasich’s Twitter, he hosted his 75th town hall in New Hampshire Monday, Jan. 24. He has another 16 town halls in the state planned throughout the next week and a half, according to Kasich's campaign website.
The Boston Globe's editorial staff released an endorsement on Monday titled “Republicans should vote for John Kasich in N.H.”
New Hampshire newspaper The Concord Monitor followed that trend by releasing its own endorsement Tuesday.
“Kasich has been subtly moving for a long time now," Anna Lippincott, the Ohio University College Republican president, said. "He has spent majority of his time in New Hampshire ... where as other candidates have split their time between South Carolina, Iowa and New Hampshire”
Lippincott added the “College Republicans do not endorse candidates in the primary season.”
Andrew Price, the communication director for the OU College Democrats, spoke on behalf of the organization.
“In a race where Donald Trump is still number one in the polls, I don't even know what to think anymore," Price said. "I know a lot of this is coming from just general frustration with the Republican candidates, but in the end, voters are going to realize that Kasich hasn't necessary helped out in Ohio in a positive way.”
DeLysa Burnier, a professor in OU's political science department, said Kasich's efforts in New Hampshire are starting to pay off.
"He has connected with a lot of people, and they are getting to know him and his message is reasonably moderate, and so I just think that he has spent enough time there," Burnier said.
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="32ff4b26-9265-11e5-98df-b33eaf858fbf"}}
She said Kasich's position as a moderate Republican is most likely giving him a hand.
"He has connected with the people that he wants to connect with, and he is running on a common sense sort of moderate position," Burnier said. "I just think things have kind of come together for him, and he has made a huge effort to make them come together.”
The New Hampshire primary will be held Feb. 9.
@mikaelashburn
ma270814@ohio.edu
