Chrissie Thompson

The Cincinnati Enquirer

WESTERVILLE, Ohio — "Who are you going to vote for?" Mitt Romney called.

"John Kasich!" the hometown crowd called back from the gym at Westerville Central High School.

The Ohio governor has lived here for decades, and these Columbus suburbanites have propelled him to the Statehouse, to Congress and to the governor's office, where he's been re-elected and enjoys the approval of a majority of Ohioans. But on Tuesday, he faces the election of his life: trying to eke out a win in his home state over billionaire Donald Trump, who has surprisingly emerged as the front-runner for the GOP nomination.

It's must-win time for Rubio, Kasich on Tuesday

A win by Trump would add 66 delegates to his advantage over all his competitors. So Mitt Romney, the most recent GOP nominee and an outspoken Trump opponent, came to Ohio Monday to help boost Kasich's chances.

Romney's appearance wasn't an endorsement, and it isn't likely to have changed many minds about Kasich. But it ensured the Ohio governor got the attention he needed with Trump rallying in northeast Ohio, and it helped lend the air of credence to a campaign hoping to convince Ohioans it has a chance of winning the nomination.

“I want to make sure you guys will do the right thing tomorrow," Romney told the crowd of about 1,500 Monday night. "You’ve got to turn out tomorrow and make sure we send a signal loud and clear that a man with integrity, a man with a clear track record, a man who has shown what he would do to get a state to turn around, will do the same thing for the country.”

That a popular Ohio governor is locked in such a tight home-state battle is the latest remarkable feature of the Republican primary. For Kasich, a loss Tuesday would likely end his candidacy. A win could propel him as the last establishment alternative to Trump and Ted Cruz, but Kasich acknowledges he cannot win the nomination outright. He would need to pick up additional state wins and then hope to gain support in a contested GOP convention in July in Cleveland.

The latest to claim that establishment mantle, Sen. Marco Rubio, is trailing Trump in polls by double digits in his home state of Florida, where 99 delegates are up for grabs.

Kasich's for Kasich and nobody else

If no candidate wins a majority of delegates through the primary process, convention delegates could vote to elevate anyone, even someone who is not a candidate. Romney is named often among non-candidates who could seek a convention nod.

Kasich has gained on Trump in Ohio polls in the last couple of weeks. He had trailed polls in previous weeks, but recent surveys — including three released Monday — show him tied with Trump or a few percentage points ahead.

So Trump has pushed hard here in the last few days before the election, peppering the state with several visits. He called the Ohio governor a "baby" in Dayton Saturday.

Kasich is trying to use the power of his backing by the Ohio Republican Party to turn out voters. Meanwhile, Kasich's political action committee and Trump's campaign are warring in ads. On Twitter, Trump and his supporters hit Kasich, saying, falsely, the Ohio governor "cannot run in the state of Pennsylvania."

An issue related to the timing of a legal challenge to Kasich's candidacy remains unresolved, but the Ohio governor is on the ballot at least for now.

In Westerville, Kasich waxed sentimental, hoping to capture a sense of hometown and home-state ownership in Tuesday's primary.In Ohio, where three-fourths of Ohio Republicans view Kasich positively, the battle has come down to who is the strongest candidate to win the GOP nomination.

“You’re my neighbors. Many of you see me over at the Westerville Grill, and I have shorts on. That’s me. I’m running for president," Kasich said. “You sent me to Congress at the age of 30.”

Now 63, Kasich said he hoped to set a good example for his neighbors, his daughters and their friends. When he pledged, "I will never take a low road to the highest office in the land," the crowd applauded for 46 seconds. He spoke of being appalled by TV images of "people slugging one another" at the site of Trump's canceled campaign rally in Chicago Friday night.

"This is not how we fix America," Kasich said. "These images are being shown all across this globe, and there are people saying, 'What's happened to America?'"

For Janet Denzel of Westerville voting for Kasich is a vote for the hometown favorite. Denzel, 53, acknowledged Kasich will have a close battle Tuesday and has only an outside chance of winning the nomination if the race goes to a contested convention.

Still, she said, her vote will represent both a strategic signal opposing Trump and Cruz and a vote with her heart. "I think he's the most qualified," Denzel said. "He doesn't scare me like the other ones do."

Follow Chrissie Thompson on Twitter: @CThompsonENQ