GIRARD Womer Benjamin establishes office

The new Valley headquarters indicates the importance of the area in the congressional race, the Republican candidate says.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
GIRARD -- In a further attempt to fend off the "outsider" label, Ann Womer Benjamin has opened a campaign office in the Mahoning Valley.
Womer Benjamin, of Aurora, the Republican candidate for the 17th Congressional District seat, is relocating half of her paid staff of four workers from her Ravenna campaign office to the former vacant Girard storefront on the busy corner of North State [U.S. Route 422] and Main streets.
She is struggling to make advances in Mahoning and Trumbull counties even though she regularly campaigns in the area. She admits being an outsider in the Valley, particularly in Trumbull County, is a negative she is trying to turn into a positive.
Trumbull and Mahoning make up 58 percent of the 17th District's population. Portage and Summit counties make up the rest.
Womer Benjamin trails Democrat Timothy J. Ryan of Niles by 21 percentage points in a recent poll commissioned by the Democratic National Campaign Committee.
She not only doesn't live in the Valley, but also resides a few miles from the 17th Congressional District. If she wins the Nov. 5 election, she plans to move into the 17th District.
Congressional candidates in Ohio are only required to live in the state and do not have to reside in a particular congressional district to seek that seat.
Reason for action
By having a visible storefront in Girard, which is located in Trumbull County and a short distance from Mahoning County, Womer Benjamin said it further supports her message that she is committed to representing the Valley.
"It indicates the importance of the Valley; it is the key player in this new congressional district," she said. "We're paying a lot of attention to the Valley."
As for the particular location on North State Street, she admits its proximity to the Jib Jab Hot Dog Shoppe is a big plus.
The Trumbull County headquarters of former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. of Poland, an independent candidate in the race, is a block away from Womer Benjamin's new office.
Those two candidates also have campaign headquarters in Ravenna, next door to each other.
Ryan's lone campaign office is in Warren.
skolnick@vindy.com