COLUMBUS – Hillary Clinton who is set to campaign Monday across Ohio, enters the final full week of the presidential race on defense once again over her use of a private email system.
Meanwhile, a newly emboldened Donald Trump is seizing on the discovery of a trove of new emails that may be pertinent to the FBI’s investigation and trying to open new paths to victory by campaigning in traditionally Democratic states.
Clinton on Monday will urge young people at Kent State University to vote, then she will head to a rally at a riverfront park in Cincinnati.
Campaign events in Ohio Oct. 31-Nov. 1:
Mon., Oct. 31 – Cleveland Area Early Vote Event, 2:45 p.m., Kent State University, Student Recreation and Wellness Center
Cincinnati Early Vote Event, 6:15 p.m., Smale Riverfront Park, Cincinnati
Tues., Nov. 1 – Ohio Democrats Early Vote Event with President Barack Obama, 4:30 p.m., Capital University Field House
Clinton will be joined in Cincinnati by former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband, Capt. Mark Kelly, who are supporting for Clinton’s plans for reducing gun violence.
The Trump campaign accused Clinton, whose trip was scheduled before the news of the emails broke on Friday, of trying to “trick” Ohio voters.
“It’s fitting that Hillary’s first visit to Ohio since the FBI reopened their investigation falls on Halloween, since she’s trying to trick Ohioans into ignoring the clouds looming over her campaign and casting early votes for her doomed candidacy,” said Seth UNger, Trump’s Ohio communications director.
Early voting is underway in a swing state that polls indicate is a toss-up between Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump and mobilizing millennial voters – those between ages 18 and 34 – could be essential to Clinton’s success in the Buckeye State.
“We know that people who above 30 vote in pretty high numbers now, across the board – African-Americans, whites. Latinos, middle-class people, wealthy people, poor people – but it’s young people, we’re really aiming to make sure they go to the polls,” Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said.
Clinton has not enjoyed the same degree of support among young voters as President Barack Obama, so he will return to the state Tuesday, leading a get-out-the-vote rally at Capital University.
“Clearly President Obama and Michelle Obama are very popular among young people,” he said. “A lot of us are reaching into campuses and encouraging young working-class voters and young university students to go out to vote.”
Former president Bill Clinton campaigned across the state in three stops on Saturday.
“I’m not stopping now, we’re just getting warmed up,” Clinton told a crowd in Florida Sunday.
Trump campaigned with new vigor. On Monday, he heads to Michigan for a pair of rallies, a state that last voted for the Republican nominee for president in 1988.