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John Kasich speaks during a campaign stop on March 12, 2016, at Xperion Energy & Environment in Heath, Ohio. | AP Photo Kasich ready to take race to the convention

A triumphant Gov. John Kasich said he is ready for a long campaign after winning the Ohio primary Tuesday night, capturing his first victory in a must-win battle against Donald Trump.

“That’s my third straight statewide win, and we’ve got one more to go,” Kasich told CNN after holding off Trump in his winner-take-all home state. “We’ll have one more to go this fall when we beat Hillary Clinton here.”

Kasich emphasized his electability and his positive message, contrasting himself with the front-runner, Trump, who remains on pace to emerge from the primaries with the most delegates.

“We have a lot of people now joining us,” Kasich said. “I’ll have all the money we’ll need.”

“There’s over 1,000 delegates still to be elected, and we’re going to be working all across the country,” Kasich said. He will be campaigning in Philadelphia on Wednesday ahead of Pennsylvania’s April 26 primary.

Kasich derided Trump’s campaign rhetoric as divisive and said in Ohio, "it didn't work."

“We know that we need to unite this country…and not spend our time dividing people in this country,” Kasich said.

John Weaver, Kasich’s chief strategist, sent out a memo Tuesday that called Kasich “the candidate best positioned to go toe-to-toe in the remaining states” and predicted that Kasich “will defeat Hillary Clinton in an Electoral College landslide.”

The question for Kasich is whether or not Republican leaders, with Kasich as the only alternative to Trump and Ted Cruz, will endorse the governor and thus the prospect of a brokered convention.

