Candidates giving the Valley its due

The four gubernatorial candidates are campaigning in the Valley.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Several statewide candidates will make campaign stops in the Mahoning Valley during the final days leading to Tuesday's primary.
The four gubernatorial candidates are among those visiting the area.
On the Republican side, Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell is appearing today at the Buckeye Club in Warren, and Attorney General Jim Petro is stopping Saturday at Mahoning County Republican headquarters on U.S. Route 224 in Boardman.
Petro is campaigning throughout the state on a three-day bus tour that begins Saturday.
Former state Rep. Bryan E. Flannery, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, is visiting Mahoning and Trumbull counties today. Flannery and Frank Stams, his lieutenant governor running mate, are visiting the state's 88 counties in an 88-hour time period that was to begin at 6 a.m. today.
U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, also running for the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, is traveling the state beginning today. Among his stops is a Monday visit with ministers in Youngstown.
U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, a Republican, is holding a fund-raising event today at the Avalon Inn in Howland featuring singer Frankie Avalon.
U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown of Avon, the leading Democrat in the U.S. Senate primary, doesn't have any Valley stops on his schedule during the final days before the primary but has held several events in the area during the past month.
State Sen. Dann
State Sen. Marc Dann of Liberty, D-32nd, a Democratic attorney general candidate, is starting a bus tour Sunday in Toledo that ends Monday in Youngstown.
"It's a reflection of the importance of the Mahoning Valley in statewide elections," said Lisa Antonini, Mahoning County Democratic chairwoman, about the political visits.
Mark Munroe, Mahoning County Republican vice chairman, agrees.
"In spite of the fact this area is heavily Democratic, it's a population center," he said. "We are a large county with a significant number of voters. Republicans have enjoyed success on the statewide level from the Mahoning Valley."
A Democratic rally is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at the operating engineers hall on McClurg Road in Boardman with state Democratic Chairman Chris Redfern, Dann, state Rep. Barbara Sykes, who is running unopposed in the primary for auditor, and state Sen. Charlie Wilson, a write-in candidate for the 6th Congressional District, scheduled to attend.
skolnick@vindy.com