YOUNGSTOWN Sen. John Kerry, Dem candidate for president, plans Valley visit

Ten of the presidential candidate's 24 Ohio contributors live in the Valley.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- U.S. Sen. John Kerry, a leading Democratic presidential candidate, is planning a fund-raising visit to the Mahoning Valley in mid-July, says Mahoning County Commissioner Ed Reese, a Kerry supporter.
Kerry, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts since 1984, was tentatively scheduled to visit the Valley next week. But he postponed the visit for a month because of a scheduling conflict, Reese said.
Reese said he and other Kerry supporters are looking at a few dates in mid-July for the candidate's fund-raising event, which would be held at MVI Home Care on Belmont Avenue in Liberty, operated by Kevin McGuire and Dale Damoli.
Reese knows Kerry through his friendship with Tom O'Neill, the former lieutenant governor of Massachusetts.
The Kerry event would be the first by an announced presidential candidate in the Valley since Al Gore visited Warren and Youngstown during the 2000 campaign. Also, this would be the first Kerry fund-raiser in Ohio.
Contributions from Ohio
Kerry raised $22,900 in Ohio during the first quarter of this year, the fourth-highest amount in the state out of the nine Democratic presidential candidates, according to PoliticalMoneyLine.com, a Web site that monitors and analyzes federal campaign finance reports.
But more than one-third of the amount came from Mahoning Valley residents. Ten of Kerry's 24 contributors in Ohio live in the Valley, and they gave him $8,600, according to the Web site.
No other Democratic presidential candidate received any campaign contributions from Valley residents during the year's first quarter, according to PoliticalMoneyLine.com.
skolnick@vindy.com