Most Republicans and GOP leaners say Ted Cruz, John Kasich should drop out: poll

Most Republicans and GOP-leaning independents say Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich should drop out of the presidential race now that they cannot mathematically get to a majority of GOP delegates through the primary and caucus process alone, according to a new poll.

Fifty-two percent said they think Mr. Cruz should drop out and 63 percent said they think Mr. Kasich should drop out, according to a CNN/ORC poll released Monday.

The questions were preceded with the statements that neither Mr. Cruz nor Mr. Kasich can win a majority of delegates through the primary and caucus process at this point and could win the nomination only if no candidate reaches a majority.

Both candidates have already made the argument that nobody is going to win the 1,237 majority of delegates before the GOP convention in July, though Republican front-runner Donald Trump does still have a viable path to that threshold.

But 60 percent of Republicans and leaners also said that delegates should vote for the candidate with the most support in the primaries and caucuses if nobody reaches a majority — unchanged from a survey taken in March.

The latest delegate tally has Mr. Trump with 996, Mr. Cruz with 565, and Mr. Kasich with 153, The Associated Press reported.

In terms of delegates, Mr. Kasich is also still behind Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who left the race a month and a half ago. A separate poll released this week found that 58 percent of GOP voters in Ohio think the governor should end his White House run.

In the CNN/ORC poll, a greater percentage of Republicans also said they think the party will still be divided in November, compared to March.

Forty-nine percent of Republicans and leaners said the party will still be divided in November, 41 percent said the party is divided now but will be united, and 7 percent said the party is united now.

In March, 46 percent said they think the GOP will be divided in November, 45 percent said they think the party is divided but will be united for the general election, and 8 percent said they thought the party was already united.