17TH DISTRICT Womer Benjamin airs local ads

The commercial touts the Republican candidate as 'a new kind of leader.'
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
WARREN -- Ann Womer Benjamin, the Republican candidate for the 17th Congressional District seat, is getting a jump start on the competition.
A television commercial touting Womer Benjamin as "a new kind of leader in Congress for the Valley" began airing Friday on Youngstown television stations WFMJ, WYTV and WKBN.
Womer Benjamin, a state representative from Aurora, is running the TV spots exclusively in the Mahoning Valley because she needs to build her name recognition in Mahoning and Trumbull counties, said David All, her campaign manager.
"This is our chance to reach out to the voters before the airwaves get crowded," he said.
The 17th District includes portions of Mahoning, Trumbull, Portage and Summit counties. Her opponents are Democrat Timothy J. Ryan of Niles and two independents, U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. of Poland and labor leader Warren Davis of Bay Village.
Womer Benjamin has represented most of Portage County in the Ohio House for more than seven years.
Future campaigning
The campaign plans to run television spots on Cleveland stations, which serve Summit and Portage counties, in October and November, All said.
The television ad running in the Valley, called "Fighting and Delivering," focuses on Womer Benjamin's support of steel workers and her ability to obtain $3 million last week for an education and training institute at Youngstown State University.
Also, Womer Benjamin will open a campaign office Monday in Ravenna and plans to open a second office later this month in Trumbull County.
Voters may have a tough time telling the difference between the campaign signs of Ryan, Traficant and Womer Benjamin from a distance. All three will use green and white as their campaign signs' colors.
The possibility of some confusion exists, All said, but the campaign decided that the colors, which Traficant and Womer Benjamin have used for years, are not that important.
skolnick@vindy.com