President Donald Trump planning Saturday Ohio visit days before special 12th District congressional election
CLEVELAND, Ohio – President Donald Trump is gearing up for a visit to Central Ohio in the final days before next Tuesday's special congressional election is held there, four Republican sources told cleveland.com.
Trump's political operation is planning for a visit to Delaware County on Saturday afternoon in an effort to boost State Sen. Troy Balderson, the Republican candidate running for Ohio's 12th Congressional District. One source said the Delaware County Fairgrounds is the planned location, but details remain unconfirmed.
Balderson is running against Franklin County Recorder Danny O'Connor, a Democrat, in a race that has the appearances of being surprisingly competitive. The seat was vacated earlier this year by Republican Rep. Pat Tiberi, who took a job with a business group in Columbus. The district runs from Mansfield south to north Columbus before turning left into Licking County and Zanesville. In 2016, Trump won the district, a mix of affluent suburbs, farmland and some rural communities, by 11 points.
Outside groups have been pouring money into the race in the past week, federal elections filings show, including two new filings on Tuesday showing six-figure investments from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Republican National Committee. There's been a lack of public polling in the race, but O'Connor's campaign has released internal polling showing a tight contest.
Vice President Mike Pence visited Newark, east of Columbus, in a effort to boost Balderson on Monday.
https://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2018/07/president_donald_trump_plannin.html