Enthusiastic crowd turns out for Mike Pence campaign stop

By Madison Bennett | MLive

PORTAGE, MI - An enthusiastic crowd showed up to hear Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, speak late Thursday afternoon.

The event at the Air Zoo in Portage drew over 1,000 people who came to show their support for Trump. Pence, the Indiana governor, was joined by Sen. Ted Cruz, a one-time rival of Trump's for the Republican nomination for president.

Despite not being old enough to vote, 16-year-old Luke Edgerly and two friends saw the event as an opportunity to learn. "We're showing support and we're also here to educate ourselves," Edgerly said from the Air Zoo before Pence arrived.

The event also saw a large turnout of college-aged voters.

Aaron Tonna, a 22-year-old student at Western Michigan University, plans to vote for Trump and encourages other people his age to make their voices heard. "Nothing is going to change if you don't do anything about it," Tonna said.

Pence and Cruz were scheduled to arrive at 3:30 p.m. but ultimately did not show up until about an hour later. Pence took the stage around 4:45 p.m. and Cruz spoke briefly before him. Michigan was one out of three states Pence was set to appear in Thursday.

Christine Porter, a Kalamazoo resident, said she has been a Trump supporter from day one and will take drastic measures if he's not elected. "If Trump doesn't win, I won't be staying in the country," Porter said.

While the event was an attempt to rally voters for Trump in the final days of the election, it did not stop a few protesters and Hillary Clinton supporters from attending.

Tom Moran, drove from Fenton to protest Trump. "If it was any other Republican, I wouldn't be doing this," he said.

Moran said his biggest issue with Trump is his character. "It's scary. I've never felt that way about an election," said Moran, who has been traveling the country with a $1,800 model of Donald Trump's head. Thus far, he's made appearances as far as New York and Las Vegas, he said.

This post originally appeared Nov. 3, 2016 on MLive.com.