Actor Steve Buscemi campaigns for state House candidate Lepore-Hagan

February 20, 2014 at 7:27p.m.

Actor Steve Buscemi campaigns for Michele Lepore-Hagan

YOUNGSTOWN

Actor Steve Buscemi, best known for playing colorful criminals on television and in movies, had a different role during his visit to Youngstown: Political supporter.

Buscemi headlined a Thursday event for Michele Lepore-Hagan, who is running in the Democratic primary in May for the 58th Ohio House District. The seat is currently held by her husband, Robert, who cannot seek re-election this year because of the state’s term-limits law.

The event at Overture at the DeYor Performing Arts Center drew a crowd of about 350 at $50 a ticket.

Michele and Jo Andres, Buscemi’s wife, danced together at Ohio University and shared an apartment in New York City, and along with their husbands have been friends for years. Buscemi and his wife are also close friends with Michele’s sister, Nanette Lepore, a fashion designer, and her husband, Robert Savage, a painter. Nanette designs many of Andres’ dresses, Buscemi said.

“We just all got along and spent a lot of time together,” Buscemi said in an exclusive interview with The Vindicator. “We often had conversations geared toward politics.”