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Kasich draws crowd at GVSU campaign stop

Hilary Farrell

Republican Presidential candidate John Kasich sought the student vote at a west Michigan campaign stop that drew estimates of more than 500 attendees.

Education, student debt and drug use were among most-mentioned topics of the Ohio Governor's Monday speech and town hall at Grand Valley State University.

During audience Q&A, Kasich gave a strong condemnation of partisan politicking – while calling President Obama’s use of executive orders an overreach.

"Look – Scalia dies, and in one second after he’s dead they’re [Washington is] already started fighting about politics. Folks, this is not helping our country," Kasich says.

"You want to know a national security issue? I’ll tell you what it is. Sitting over in the café in France, they look at us and say, ‘America, they can’t fix anything.’ That’s a national security issue." 

Kasich also answered questions on marijuana, after noting a difference between medical and recreational use -

"I don’t want to ruin somebody’s life because they smoked dope. But I’m not for legalizing it."

Vaccinations –

"Let me stop you on vaccinations - You going to need a vaccination, go get it. Period. I mean, that’s what I think."

And climate change.

"Clearly, we’re having an impact, an effect on it. You know, our emissions do affect the temperature. How much, I don't know, but we should be for renewables - aggressive development of renewable energy, which is what we're doing." 

Kasich additionally called for "significant" funding for disease research at the National Institutes of Health and a desire for educational decision-making to be made locally.

Kasich's event was coordinated by the GVSU College Republicans student organization.

Hilary is a General Assignment and Enterprise reporter for WGVU Public Media. She joined WGVU in September 2014 after several years of experience as a local news reporter, anchor and photojournalist in Midland, Saginaw and Bay counties. She's also worked as a financial and business reporter and audio field producer.
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