From Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan -
With late polling indicating a possible bump in Michigan, Ohio Gov. John Kasich tried to take advantage of voter dissatisfaction with the Republican race, arguing that his candidacy is a legitimate contender against Donald Trump in the GOP race.
"We're definitely rising in Michigan," Kasich told an audience in high school gymnasium.
Kasich drew the loudest applause from hundreds of Michigan voters when he rebuked fellow Republicans for a campaign that has often become focused on personal insults and attacks between candidates.
"I'm not engaging in the negative or the personal attacks, and I don't intend to, okay?" Kasich said.
Jamie Dupree
Jamie Dupree
Once again casting himself as someone who has never been embraced by the Republican establishment, Kasich made the case to undecided voters that he can carry forward with their desire for change in Washington.
"I will give you a voice, I promise you that - I have throughout my entire political career," Kasich said.
"And I ain't changing now," he added.
Along with a poll that showed Kasich in the lead over Donald Trump in Michigan, just as encouraging were results from a Monmouth University poll, which clearly showed something changed around the time of the GOP debate last Thursday in Detroit.
Jamie Dupree
Jamie Dupree
"The race was much tighter in Saturday and Sunday interviews," the polling report stated.
"This has been a pretty wild primary season, and he's a pretty sane voice in that crowd," said Tim Collins of Birmingham, Michigan, who had come to see Kasich for the first time.
Kasich hopes he can find more of those type of voters, who seem to be going his way, in the final hours before the polls close on Tuesday.
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