John Kasich

Ohio Gov. John Kasich's presidential campaign still has work to do in his home state, where he trails businessman Donald Trump, a new poll found.

(Steve Helber, The Associated Press)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- As part of his plan to win the White House, Ohio Gov. John Kasich is counting on winning over Republican voters in his own state.

But a new Quinnipiac University poll of likely Ohio voters found Kasich still lags behind celebrity businessman Donald Trump, who has emerged as the 2016 GOP primary's frontrunner, 31 percent to 26 percent.

Not far behind is Texas Sen. Ted Cruz with 21 percent, while Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who is emerging as the Republican establishment's choice in the race, trailed behind at 13 percent. Dr. Ben Carson, whose campaign has largely stalled, received 5 percent.

And meanwhile on the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leads Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders among likely Ohio voters 55 percent to 40 percent, according to the poll. This suggests she has consolidated support in Ohio since the university's last poll on Oct. 7, for which Vice President Joe Biden was still considered a possible candidate. That poll showed Clinton leading with 40 percent support, with Biden (21 percent) and Sanders (19 percent) essentially tied.

"Former Secretary Hillary Clinton has a solid double-digit lead over Sen. Sanders, but anything can happen in three weeks of presidential politics," Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a written statement.

On the bright side for Kasich, his second-place Ohio position in Tuesday's poll is an improvement over the university's last poll on Oct. 7. In that survey, Kasich finished third behind Trump and Carson, whom he trailed by 10 points and 15 points, respectively. Since then, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Kasich's competitors in the "establishment lane," have dropped out, as has former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.

A win in Ohio's March 15 primary is crucial for Kasich's narrowing presidential ambitions.

Despite national pressure to drop out following a fifth-place finish in the South Carolina primary last Saturday, Kasich has continued to campaign off the strength of a second-place finish in New Hampshire earlier in the month. He has outlasted the two other governors in the race, and hopes to win delegates in the Northeast and Midwest, where voters may be more open to his more-moderate political views. He also is campaigning off recent national polls that suggest he is his party's best chance of winning against Clinton in November.

Last year, Ohio Republicans changed their primary rules so the top vote-getter will receive all 66 of the state's delegates, rather than those delegates being awarded proportionately. Even if he does win the Ohio primary on March 15, Kasich will need to be competitive in a number of other elections between now and then, including the 14 states that comprise the "Super Tuesday" March primary.

For Tuesday's poll, conducted between Feb. 16-20, Quinnipiac surveyed 759 Ohio likely Republican primary voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points, and 518 Ohio likely Democratic primary voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.