Katrease Stafford

Detroit Free Press

Vowing to cut taxes for working families and provide "change versus the status quo," Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, the Republican candidate for vice president, said Thursday at a Novi rally that the Donald Trump-led ticket will reinvigorate the American economy.

Nearly 1,000 Trump supporters attended the rally, which was held at the Suburban Collection Showplace, the same venue at which Trump appeared for a Lincoln Day dinner in 2013.

Dozens of Trump supporters waved "Make America Great Again" signs, with some shouting "build the wall" and calling for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to be thrown in jail.

"I joined this party in a heartbeat because our party nominated a man that never quits," Pence said, calling Trump his new boss. "As of last week, this party is united and this movement is united and I know we will elect Donald Trump ... We will make America great again."

The Novi event followed a rally held earlier in the day in the Grand Rapids suburb of Walker. The two stops occurred on the last day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, where Clinton was set to accept the Democratic nomination for president.

Pence, a former U.S. House member and chairman of the House Republican Conference, is the second potential vice presidential pick from Indiana since Dan Quayle took office in 1989 under George Bush. Calling himself an "outsider," Trump previously acknowledged one of the reasons he chose Pence, an evangelical Christian with support from both traditional fiscal and social conservatives who have been wary of Trump, was for party unity.

In his speech, Pence blasted Clinton and Democratic vice presidential nominee U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, saying the pair "personify the failed establishment" in Washington, D.C.

"The American people are ready for a change," Pence said. "The American people are tired of being told this as good as it gets. At the very moment when America is crying out for something new, the other party is offering something stale."

Pence also urged the crowd to spread support for Trump to neighbors and friends, reminding them the next president will have the potential to appoint a handful of judges to the Supreme Court.

"The next president who appoints judges to the Supreme Court is Donald Trump," Pence said. "This man's a doer, not a talker. He stands up for the American people."

Pence has drawn support from some Michigan Republicans because he championed a big tax cut for businesses in his state and is a staunch supporter of the state's right-to-work law, which passed in 2012, the same year Michigan's Republican majority passed the anti-union measure.

Oakland County GOP Chairwoman Theresa Mungioli urged Trump supporters to turn Oakland County "red," along with the entire state of Michigan. Mungioli told the supporters that Trump's ideals are in line with what Michigan Republicans believe.

"Last night, when President (Barack) Obama was speaking, it was like a dream world," Mungioli said, to cheers from the audience. "You and I and the team here in Oakland County, we can introduce Hillary Clinton to Neverland because we are making Oakland County Trump land and we are going to win for Donald Trump and Mike Pence."

In Novi, Pence highlighted that, as governor of Indiana, more than $2.5 billion has been spent on roads and bridges and that his state's unemployment rate dropped from 8% to 5%, which he claims is one of the lowest in the Midwest.

"When he (Tim Kaine) was governor of Virginia, the unemployment rate doubled," Pence said, comparing his track record to Kaine. "It does seem to me he is the perfect running mate for someone who is going to press down on the struggling economy."

But some disagree with Pence's stance on controversial legislation that would allow businesses to refuse service to customers based on their religious beliefs.

After Pence signed the legislation last year in Indiana, he was forced to modify the law after facing massive backlash from state and national businesses who saw the law as discriminating against the LGBT community. In Michigan, Gov. Rick Snyder made an unusual statement that he would veto similar legislation proposed here if it reached his desk.

Democratic women who support Clinton for president held a telephone conference call Wednesday to speak out against the Pence visit, saying he opposed equal pay legislation as a member of Congress and signed into law extreme abortion restrictions as Indiana governor.

"Trump and Pence offer limited government everywhere except when it comes to my body," said Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, a former Democratic state lawmaker. And Thursday, in advance of Pence’s scheduled visits, news conferences were held in Grand Rapids and Novi to "highlight Donald Trump and Mike Pence’s dangerous and extreme attempts to roll back women’s rights," event organizers said. Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown and former state Rep. Vicki Barnett were among the women at the events.

The Michigan Democratic Party released a statement Thursday blasting Trump and Pence, stating the pair have teamed up to form the most "anti-woman presidential ticket in the nation's history."

“If Mike Pence thinks he’s going to find a receptive audience in Michigan for his backward ideas, then he’s going to be in for a surprise when he hears from the women of our state," the party said. “Donald Trump and Mike Pence oppose equal pay and raising the minimum wage, which disproportionately impacts women, particularly single mothers. They want to defund Planned Parenthood and they’re opposed to women making their own health care decisions. They believe that a woman who has an abortion should be considered a criminal. Mike Pence doesn’t speak for Michigan women."

But for Trump supporter Kathleen Turner, being at the rally was surreal and chance for her to participate up-close in an election she believes will determine the future of the country. Turner made the trek to Novi from her small community of North Street, which is near Port Huron.

"I'm on cloud nine," Turner, 58, said. "Trump is someone different from normal politicians. To be here and witness it, you can feel it. You kind of get shivers and goosebumps."

North Street resident Helen Hermes said she thinks only Trump can lift the spirits of Americans and rebuild the economy after the country was led by Democrats for the past eight years. Hermes said she believes Trump will "reinstall the law," bring jobs and make education a priority.

"I believe the Constitution is being shredded by the Democrats," Hermes, 78, said. "I've traveled and seen the damage socialism does. ... I think Trump and Pence will do all things right by the Constitution and I think they're both truthful."

Staff writers Kathleen Gray and Todd Spangler contributed to this report.