Ohio Governor John Kasich has gained ground in the state of New Hampshire, and is tied for second place with Ted Cruz, according to the latest WBUR Poll. Both Cruz and Kasich are 11 points behind front-runner Donald Trump.

Undeclared voters, also termed independents, make up an approximate 44 percent of New Hampshire's voters, and thus are critical in deciding the ultimate winner, reports Newsweek.

Kasich, meanwhile, garnered support from New Hampshire GOP chairman Fergus Cullen, who thought that Kasich was positive and had a "consistent tone during this whole campaign," reports CNN.

John Feehery, a Republican lobbyist, also thought Kasich stood a strong chance of winning the Republican nomination. "I think Kasich could be the guy. If he comes in second in New Hampshire he could be the big comeback story. He might be the establishment guy," said Feehery, according to Bloomberg Politics.

"When the other candidates are offering criticisms and darkness and gloom - no optimism about the future, no real solutions to the problems that real people care about-he's doing the exact opposite, and he's connecting with voters," said John Weaver, Kasich's chief strategist, to Bloomberg Politics. 

"If you lose an election, so what? If I lose this election, if I don't do well here, life's gonna go on," said a pragmatic Kasich, reports Bloomberg Politics.