Trump Returning To Youngstown Oct. 12
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YOUNGSTOWN -- With hotly contested races for governor and U.S. senator in Ohio, President Donald Trump will return Oct. 12 to Youngstown's Covelli Centre to rally support for Republican candidates.
Trump, a Republican, is supposed to speak at 6 p.m. with the event starting at 4:30 p.m. and doors opening at 2:30 p.m., according to the Republican National Committee.
Monday's announcement about the Oct. 12 event came two days after Trump had a rally in Vandalia, near Dayton, to boost the campaigns of U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, a Republican who is facing Democrat Sherrod Brown, a former U.S. senator, and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, who is running for the open governor's seat against Democrat Amy Acton.
Polls show both races are close in a state that last elected a Democrat as governor in 2006 and where Brown, the last Democrat elected to the Senate, lost in 2024. Brown had previously won three Senate races - in 2006, 2012 and 2018.
Democrats are looking to make political gains in a mid-term election in states where they've struggled, including Ohio.
Mahoning County Republican Party Chairman Tom McCabe said: "The rally with the president will be a good thing. He'll rally the base. It's a turnout election. Trump won the county two times. It's not only good for the statewide candidates, but for the local candidates too. I'm excited to get a sitting president here. It helps us. It can't hurt us. There's nothing but positives out of this and it's great he's coming back."
Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman Chris Anderson said: "Since Donald Trump rode down a gold-plated escalator more than 10 years ago, he's made countless promises to the Valley and delivered on a grand total of zero of them. But what he and his Republican friends have done is make all of our costs higher and gotten us into another war in the Middle East with no end in sight."
Anderson added: "I hope that while the local GOP's ticket is bending the knee and fighting for space to take a selfie with him, they'll at least ask him when he plans to do any of the things he said he'd do on day one."
Trump won Mahoning County in the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections. Trump won the presidential elections in Trumbull County in 2016, 2020 and 2024 as well as in the state of Ohio. He was elected president in the 2016 election, lost in 2020 and won again in 2024.
Trump's successes in Mahoning and Trumbull helped Republicans win several races in both counties, which were historically Democratic strongholds before his first presidential bid 10 years ago.
McCabe said: "I don't think his popularity is in question. He's kept his popularity in this region and there's an enthusiasm he'll inject into this area."
Asked what Trump coming to Ohio twice in a little more than a week means about his candidacy, Ramaswamy said Monday that people have doubted Republicans in Ohio elections at this time of the year going back years and the party's candidates have won.
Ramaswamy said: "We're going to win this election. I do think there are different elements of what goes into winning an election. President Trump won the state three times. He's smart to want to come back to a state he's won three times and to remind voters of what he's done for them, why they voted for him three times and why they're going to vote for Republicans this cycle - just not like the three times he won, but the last, we could say five cycles, including the races in between. That's just common sense. You've got Democrats coming into this state who are former presidential candidates or contenders for my opponent. I think you can say it's because they're worried about her capabilities as a candidate."
Husted's campaign said: "We look forward to hosting President Trump in Ohio again next week - a state he's won decisively three times. Jon Husted worked with President Trump to deliver the largest tax cut for working families in our state's history, eliminated taxes on tips and overtime and fixed the Joe Biden-Sherrod Brown open-border crisis. We're excited to share these accomplishments with Ohioans in Youngstown."
U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Salem, whose district includes Mahoning County, said: "I'm thrilled any time we can put the spotlight on Youngstown and having the president here does that. It's amazing he's coming here. The boost from Trump is always nice. He's here to highlight Vivek Ramaswamy and Jon Husted."
Regarding Trump's detractors, Rulli said: "Trump derangement syndrome is real. The way they act is unacceptable. The hate they have for Trump is a derangement. It's a disorder."
U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Bainbridge, whose district includes all of Trumbull County and will include a small part of Mahoning starting Jan. 1, said: "I am honored to work with the president and his administration on shared priorities for northeast Ohioans including cutting taxes for hardworking families, implementing solutions to restore and protect the Great Lakes, making significant progress in securing America's southern border to protect Ohio communities from human trafficking and the scourge of fentanyl and investing billions of dollars in access to high-quality healthcare in rural areas."
Joyce said more work is needed, "especially to bring down the cost of living for Ohio families, and I look forward to continue working with the president and my colleagues to achieve this most pressing priority if given the honor of another term representing northeast Ohio in Congress."
During the Vandalia rally, Trump predicted Republicans will do well in the upcoming election.
Trump said: "Just get out and vote. If you do that, we're going to win and we're going to win big …"
It is Trump's third rally at the Covelli Centre.
He was there July 25, 2017, for a rally right before a Senate to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. The Senate voted against his plan three days after the rally.
During that speech, Trump famously said: "Don't move. Don't sell your house."
While mulling a third presidential campaign, Trump stumped Sept. 17, 2022, at the Covelli Centre for JD Vance, who was elected to the U.S. Senate less than two months later. Trump then chose Vance as his vice presidential running mate with the pair elected in November 2024.
Trump spent most of that Sept. 17, 2022, speech airing past grievances, including false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. Trump said at the time that if he was president, there wouldn't have been a Russian invasion of Ukraine, high gas prices and inflation.
During the 2016 campaign, Trump made stops at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna, Youngstown State University and the Canfield Fair. Shortly after the Feb. 3, 2023, train derailment in East Palestine, Trump went there.