Signaling that she means to contest Trump-leaning Ohio, Democrat Hillary Clinton on Wednesday started running an Ohio-only TV ad in Toledo, Cleveland, and Youngstown, and she added a stop in Cleveland to shore up Democratic votes there.
In addition, the Clinton campaign has Cory Booker, a U.S. senator from New Jersey who was on her short list of possible running mates, stumping for her in Toledo, Port Clinton, and Cleveland today.
The new Clinton ad targets construction workers and small-business owners. It highlights Donald Trump’s failed casinos in Atlantic City, N.J., in which “carpenters, landscapers, small businesses that helped build the place ... got stiffed,” while Mr. Trump “walked away with millions.”
It was not clear what makes the 30-second spot specific to Ohio.
“We thought this was an important message for folks in Ohio to hear as they are going to the polls,” said Harrell Kirstein, Mrs. Clinton’s Ohio campaign spokesman.
“Ohio is very important for us. The first stop that Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine made after the convention was a bus tour that came right through Ohio,” Mr. Kirstein said.
On Friday she will take the stage at Cleveland State University with hip-hop artist Jay Z. Mrs. Clinton will be back in Cleveland on Sunday — two days before the election to make it her third trip to the Cleveland area in less than a week. She was at Kent State University on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign — which is operating on about half of the approximately $1 billion being spent on Mrs. Clinton’s election campaign — is scheduling its candidate where he is most needed, and so far that does not include Ohio for the final week of campaign.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton greets people outside an early voting center in Lauderhill, Fla. Ohio’s early voting pace has fallen from the rate in 2012.
Mr. Trump was in Toledo on Oct. 27 and in Michigan on Monday. He is set to appear in Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and New Hampshire between now and Election Day — all states where he is running closer to Mrs. Clinton than in Ohio, or behind her.
While Mrs. Clinton is on television bashing Mr. Trump, he has taken to Ohio’s Christian radio stations this week with a new ad called “Stand.”
In the ad, evangelist Jerry Falwell, Jr., says, “As Christians, we cannot allow our Supreme Court to be stacked with liberal justices who will transform America and threaten our freedoms.”
A new poll from Quinnipiac University released Wednesday shows Mr. Trump with a 5-point lead over Mrs. Clinton in the Buckeye state, at 46 percent for Mr. Trump and 41 percent for Mrs. Clinton. The poll of 589 Ohio likely voters was taken Oct. 27-Nov. 1 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Peter Brown, assistant poll director, called Mr. Trump’s lead among independents “pretty overwhelming.”
“Ohio has a large number of voters that the Trump campaign has targeted. The Buckeye state is full of those who feel they have lost their jobs because of unfair trade treaties, and noncollege educated whites,” Mr. Brown said.
Mrs. Clinton’s campaign to carry Ohio is concerned about a relatively sluggish early voter turnout, which historically favors the Democratic candidate. Statistics released this week by the Ohio secretary of state show that fewer people have voted by mail or in person in this election, compared with 2012 and 2008.
In Cuyahoga County, for example, 23,988 early votes were cast by this point in the election in 2012, compared with 13,499 this year. The last two elections had an extra week of voting, known as “Golden Week,” that was eliminated by the Republican-dominated Ohio General Assembly from this year’s election, over strong Democratic objections.
According to Mr. Kirstein, the pace of early voting is faster than in the same weeks in 2008 and 2012. He called that “a positive.”
Kyle Kondik, author of The Bellwether: Why Ohio Picks the President and managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, said Ohio’s African-American vote and the Democratic vote in the Mahoning Valley are not as solid for Mrs. Clinton as they were for President Obama in 2008 and 2012.
“The focus on Cleveland comes as Cuyahoga County lags in early/absentee voting and as there are national warning signs that black turnout may sag with Obama leaving the scene. Democrats need to get as good of turnout as possible amongst black voters to win Ohio, particularly as it appears Clinton may lose some of Obama’s margin in some traditionally Democratic white areas, like the Mahoning Valley,” Mr. Kondik said.
“The Clinton campaign clearly believes Ohio is still winnable, and it is devoting a lot of time and resources to the state,” he said. “Ohio’s history and its demographics suggest that Trump should do better in Ohio than he does nationally, and I think Trump is probably slightly better than 50-50 to carry the state, although it could still go either way.”
Both candidates are sending surrogates into Ohio. Only Mrs. Clinton has surrogate appearances taking place in northwest Ohio, with Mr. Booker and Anne Holton, the wife of vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine.
Ms. Holton, the former Virginia secretary of education, attended campaign events in Lima and Findlay on Wednesday and will appear today at the Toledo Clinton campaign office, 911 Jefferson Ave., at 10:15 a.m.
Mr. Booker will be at the Clinton campaign office at 2222 N. Reynolds Rd. at 2:30 p.m., at 2026 E. Harbor Rd., Port Clinton at 4:15 p.m., and at 6114 Woodland Ave., Cleveland, at 6:30 p.m.
Ohio is one of 11 states regarded as swing states and too close to call.
In addition, it has a history of having the longest unbroken record of picking winners. The last time a president was elected while losing Ohio was 1960 with Democrat John F. Kennedy.
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