By IRN/Julio Rausseo
With 69 delegates up for grabs, Republican presidential hopefuls are making their final push in Illinois ahead of the primary Tuesday.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich held two town hall events in the Chicago suburbs Wednesday, taking questions from voters on issues including health care, job growth and Social Security.
Kasich spoke on the U.S. economy, immigration and highlighted his campaign’s positive tone. He said he’s confident voters are starting to embrace his campaign, which is focused on economic growth.
“For the first time in this campaign, people are finally beginning to hear my message,” Kasich said. “Of job growth, of wage growth, of balanced budgets, of helping people who live in the shadows — it’s starting to work.”
Kasich complimented Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and encouraged supporters to call on Springfield to end the legislative standoff.
“You’ve got a governor who’s a business guy, he’s making compromises,” Kasich said. “Call the legislators and tell them to get off their duffs, work with the guy and make Illinois as great as it can possibly be.”
In a Chicago Tribune poll published Tuesday, Kasich was polling fourth behind Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio.
On Friday, Cruz will give a keynote address at Northwest suburbs’ Lincoln Day Dinner, and Trump will hold rallies in St. Louis and on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
