Beto O’Rourke to Visit Niles Wednesday

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, will visit Niles next week, a local labor leader confirmed Thursday.

O’Rourke, who last year challenged incumbent Republican Ted Cruz for his U.S. Senate seat, is visiting Ohio next Tuesday and Wednesday on a campaign trip that will begin in Iowa Saturday and end in western Pennsylvania next Thursday, according to an advisory from his campaign.

“Beto will meet with activists, community leaders, and students to discuss how to bring everyone in and build a better future for our country,” the advisory said. “Beto will also continue to encourage Americans to connect the dots from Trump’s recklessness and corruption and this administration’s refusal to act on crucial gun safety measures that will save lives.”

Bill Padisak, president of the Mahoning-Trumbull AFL-CIO, confirmed Thursday that O’Rourke’s campaign reached out to him to arrange a meeting with about a dozen or so individuals affected by the United Auto Workers strike on General Motors and the shutdown of GM’s Lordstown plant, including workers and labor leaders.

“I told them I would make some calls,” Padisak said.

The meeting will be closed to the public and will take place at 3 p.m. at the hall of United Steel Workers Local 2155, which also houses the AFL-CIO offices, according to Padisak.

A spokesman for O’Rourke expected additional guidance for the visit to come out as early as today.

Image: Beto O’Rourke at a rally in April 2019: Wikimedia Commons (Luke Harold [CC0])

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.