Gillibrand: Dem race far from over

By DAVID SKOLNICK

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Trailing in polls among 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said during a stop in Youngstown that the race for the nomination is far from over.

“I think it’s just early,” she said during a Thursday visit at Cassese’s MVR in Youngstown. “I think the fact that voters don’t know who I am [is the reason]. This is the first time I’ve campaigned in Ohio and so I’m introducing myself to Ohio voters. Right now, we’re doing the same in Michigan and I did Pennsylvania earlier” Thursday.

Gillibrand added: “So it’s a chance for me to tell people who I am, why I’m running, why I’m a better candidate than other Democrats that are running, why I’m the best candidate to not only defeat [President Donald] Trump, but to bring this country back together, heal the divide and actually get things done.”

Gillibrand said she’s proven she can capture Republican voters during her time in Congress.

“Unlike any other blue-state Democrat that’s running, I win in red areas,” she said. “My first House district was 2-to-1 Republican and I won it by a 24-point margin. Those communities have never been left behind.”

Gillibrand is polling nationally at 0.3 percent, tied for 17th among Democratic presidential candidates, according to Real Clear Politics.

Gillibrand visited Youngstown Thursday as part of a three-state, two-day “Trump Broken Promises Tour.”

She stopped earlier Thursday in Pittsburgh and after leaving Youngstown, went to South Central Tire and Auto in Warren before ending the day in Cleveland. She will spend today in Michigan.

She spoke at Cassese’s MVR restaurant, answering questions from an audience that included local labor leaders.

Gillibrand sharply criticized Trump saying: “This community has really borne the brunt of the president’s broken promises,” and that the president is “doing nothing to help this community.”

Earlier Thursday, Ohio Republican Party Chairwoman Jane Timken told The Vindicator that Gillibrand is “out of touch. She’s a flip-flopper. When she first ran for Congress she sort of skewed a little bit to the right. She was conservative on immigration. She was conservative on guns. Now, she’s gone so far left.”

Dave Green, president of the United Auto Workers Local 1112 at the idled General Motors complex in Lordstown, attended Gillibrand’s event.

He said he “liked what she’s saying” and supports her economic policy.

“There’s so many candidates,” Green said. “I’m hoping whoever the nominee is, they come together.”