John Kasich

People take selfies with Republican presidential candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, following lunch at Mike's Deli during a campaign stop, Thursday, April 7, 2016 in New York City. Kasich will speak at a Syracuse, N.Y., town hall event 6 p.m. Friday, April 8, 2016, at Le Moyne College. (AP Photo/Bryan R. Smith)

(Bryan R. Smith)

Republican presidential candidate John Kasich is apparently more popular in the Syracuse area than even the Ohio governor anticipated.

Kasich has decided to move his Syracuse town hall meeting today to a larger space at Le Moyne College -- for the second time -- after his campaign received more RSVPs than could be accommodated at the college's Campus Center, which has room for about 600 people



Now the public event will be held at 6 p.m. today at Le Moyne's Henninger Athletic Center, 500 Springfield Road, which can seat about 2,500 people.

The Kasich campaign had previously moved the town hall meeting Thursday from Le Moyne's Grewen Hall (capacity 280 people) to the Campus Center, which can hold about 600 people.

That move attracted the attention of MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show broadcast Thursday night. Maddow showed a screen shot of a syracuse.com article about Kasich's first change of venue.

Maddow noted that Kasich's anticipated crowd in Syracuse is impressive for the governor, but still doesn't come close to Donald Trump's typical rallies -- including one expected to draw up to 17,000 to the Time Union Center in Albany next week.

Kasich's campaign did not say how many people have signed up to attend the Syracuse event today.

The town hall meeting is part of Kasich's first campaign stop in Upstate New York ahead of the state's April 19 presidential primary.

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