Ex-president to campaign at Boardman union hall

RELATED: Kaine attacks, Pence counters in only VP debate

By DAVID SKOLNICK

skolnick@vindy.com

BOARDMAN

After overnighting in the Mahoning Valley, former President Bill Clinton will spend today in the area campaigning for his wife, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

The only announced appearance for the former president in the area on his “Stronger Together” bus tour is a 9:45 a.m. breakfast at the Western Reserve Building Trades hall, 291 McClurg Road. The event is slated to end at 11:45 a.m.

The event is billed as a “voter registration breakfast” and is taking place six days before Tuesday’s deadline to register to vote in Ohio for those who aren’t registered.

Early voting starts next Wednesday.

Doors to the Western Reserve hall event open at 9 a.m. today.

Those wanting to RSVP can do so at: www.hillaryclinton.com/events/view/CVDEYVDWAAR7S6WF.

The union hall is the first stop for Clinton, who is expected to make other unannounced visits in the Valley during the day.

Clinton is likely to stay in the area until he heads to a public event in Canton that is to start at 4:15 p.m. One expected local visit is to his wife’s Warren campaign headquarters, 4013 E. Market St.

He spent the night at a Valley hotel after a Steubenville rally.

Bill Clinton has visited the Valley several times over the years, though his last stop was a private fundraiser Nov. 19, 2015, at the Canfield residence of Bruce and Rori Zoldan for his wife.

His last public appearance in the area was an Oct. 29, 2012, rally for President Barack Obama at the Covelli Centre in downtown Youngstown.

On Tuesday, the first day of Clinton’s bus tour, he made a number of those stops in between public events in Athens and Steubenville.

He visited a deli in Marietta – along with longtime political ally Ted Strickland, the former governor who is running for the U.S. Senate – and a restaurant in Bridgeport in the heart of coal country.

About 2,000 people came to see Clinton at Ohio University.

During his 45-minute speech, Clinton criticized the policies and rhetoric of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. He also praised his wife’s plans for helping the middle class and for building an economy that will work for everyone.

Polls show a close race in Ohio, a key swing state, with an advantage to Trump right now.

During his stop at the Third Street Deli in Marietta, Clinton was asked about the Sept. 26 presidential debate.

“I think the debate helped her,” he said. But a Quinnipiac Poll on Monday showed Trump’s lead grow in Ohio to 5 percentage points despite those polled, by a margin of more than 2-to-1, saying Clinton won the debate.

Speaking on behalf of the Trump campaign, U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson of Marietta, R-6th, said Monday: “Voters in my district will not be fooled by former President Clinton’s pitch of four more years of Obama energy and economic policies.”

Johnson’s 18-county district includes all of Columbiana County and the southern portion of Mahoning County.