Photo

MADISON, Wis. — Gov. John Kasich’s only hope for the Republican presidential nomination rests on an extraordinary turn of events at the party’s convention. To that end, his campaign has enlisted two experienced political hands to lead its work.

The operatives, Michael Biundo and Andrew Boucher, will guide the campaign’s efforts in the delegate selection process as well as preparing for the convention, to be held in July in Cleveland. Their work includes targeting delegates pledged to other candidates, such as Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.

Mr. Biundo was a senior adviser for the presidential campaign of Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, and he was campaign manager in 2012 for the presidential bid of former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. Mr. Boucher served as national political director for Mr. Santorum’s 2012 bid.

Both had previously signed on to advise Mr. Kasich. In recent weeks, they built a team of operatives around the country, according to the Kasich campaign.

Mr. Kasich has prevailed in only one nominating contest thus far, the primary in his home state, Ohio. But he has held an edge over Hillary Clinton in national polls, and his team is betting that his apparent strength in a general election contest, as well as his experience as a congressman and as Ohio’s governor, will be attractive to delegates. If no candidate achieves a majority in the first round of voting at the convention, many of the bound delegates will be free to support another candidate.

A spokesman for Mr. Kasich, Mike Schrimpf, said that as the convention draws closer, “more and more of the delegates are going to focus on who can actually win in November.”

“That is going to be a very, very good discussion to have Governor Kasich in the middle of,” Mr. Schrimpf said.

Electability is an issue that Mr. Kasich likes to bring up with voters, as he did on Monday at a town-hall-style event near La Crosse, Wis.

“What good does it do to win a primary in a narrow way and get your brains beat out in a general if you want to elect a president?” he said.

Later Monday, at a town-hall-style event here, Mr. Kasich said two factors should matter to delegates at the convention: the ability to win in November and the ability to do the job of president.

“We have one person with no political experience at all that says everything’s going to be great,” Mr. Kasich said, alluding to Donald J. Trump.

Then he alluded to Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, likening him to Barack Obama in 2008.

“And the other one, let me tell you, the Republican Party and the conservative commentators have talked for seven years about electing a first-term United States senator who hadn’t accomplished anything,” Mr. Kasich said, adding that the crowd could complete that thought.

“I think there’s a possibility of convincing people about who can win and who can serve,” Mr. Kasich added, “and that’s why I stay.”