Elections

John Kasich: Why New Yorkers should vote for me

Kasich: Cruz hasn't accomplished anything in Senate
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Kasich: Cruz hasn't accomplished anything in Senate
Kasich: Competition is good
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Kasich: Competition is good
Kasich: We must have orderly immigration
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Kasich: We must have orderly immigration

John Kasich has little chance of topping Donald Trump in the mogul's home state Tuesday, but the Ohio governor believes his record shows why voters should choose him over Ted Cruz.

Kasich, a longshot for the Republican presidential nomination, said he has taken a message of "hope" to New York ahead of the state's primary. In an interview with CNBC's Larry Kudlow Thursday, he looked to distance himself from his rivals, not only through economic policy but also through his track record.

"Voters think that if a politician's lips are moving, they're lying. I can show evidence that what I say I've already done and I can accomplish it again," the GOP hopeful said in New York.

Speaking of Cruz, the U.S. senator from Texas, Kasich contended "he didn't accomplish anything the whole time he's been in" the Senate.

U.S. Republican presidential candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich
Bryan Woolston | Reuters

Kasich's comments come amid mounting questions about why he has not dropped out of the race. He has won only 143 delegates so far, and cannot garner enough delegates to win the Republican presidential nomination before July's Republican National Convention, according to NBC News.

Both Trump and Cruz currently triple his pledged delegates. Kasich still holds a chance at the GOP nomination if no candidate comes to the convention with the required number of delegates.

His campaign is upbeat despite the long odds.

"The reason why Trump and Cruz are trying to push us out is they know we can win an open convention," campaign communications director Mike Schrimpf previously told CNBC.

Trump gets support from 54 percent of likely Republican primary voters in New York, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll released this week. The same poll showed Kasich with 21 percent of support and Cruz with 18 percent.

If Trump tops 50 percent of the vote statewide and in each of New York's congressional districts, he will walk away with all of the state's 95 delegates.

John Kasich
Kasich camp to Trump and Cruz: We're not going anywhere
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. R-Wis.
Paul Ryan: I won't be GOP nominee, 'end of story'

In his pitch to New York voters, Kasich said he wanted to ensure economic security with growth. He pledged to lower tax rates and boost job training in the U.S., among other initiatives.

Kasich also said he wants to cut corporate taxes and end so-called "double taxing," or the U.S. taxing corporate profits earned overseas. The issue emerged in campaign discussion recently when Pfizer and Allergan scrapped a planned merger in the wake of new U.S. Treasury Department rules.

He suggested that tax reform would be more feasible if he held the presidency.

"You can't lead out of Congress. You can lead to a degree, but it's very hard to lead when you have a president that doesn't want to go for all this," Kasich said.

Kasich also distanced himself from his competitors on immigration. Both Trump and Cruz have taken more harsh stances, and Trump has touted a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border.

While Kasich said he "favors" immigration, he noted that "we have to have a system that controls our borders."

— CNBC Digital contributor Daniel Libit and NBC News contributed to this report.