Trump boosts Kelly
ERIE — Forget jobs — President Donald Trump said the big request he's heard from U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly is for fresh sand on Presque Isle and dredging in the Erie Canal.
Trump arrived in Erie for a Republican rally with GOP candidates Wednesday afternoon, just 27 days before the Nov. 6 midterm election.
Erie, which used to be split into two congressional districts is now wholly choosing between Kelly and Democrat Ron DiNicola for the new 16th Congressional District seat.
The night's Republican rally filled Erie Insurance Arena, and Kelly — one of the first in Congress to support Donald Trump's candidacy — appeared eager to further associate himself with Trump's brand.
“A vote for him is a vote to make America great again,” Trump said of Kelly.
The “We Like Mike” signs were present in the sea of red “Make America Great Again” baseball caps Wednesday, but the crowd at the rally in the Erie Insurance Arena was decidedly there to see the president.
A group of Kelly's supporters were strategically seated just behind Trump's shoulder as seen from the view of the television cameras in the room, but that group held the majority of the Kelly campaign signs in the room.
Still, Trump gave more of his own personal screen-time to Kelly than any other of the night's speakers, which included gubernatorial candidate Scott Wagner and U.S. Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, who is running for a the new 15th Congressional District that includes a section of eastern Butler County that used to be in Kelly's district.
Trump introduced Kelly and his wife, Victoria, to the crowd. He explained that improvements to Presque Isle as a tourist attraction and improving boat traffic in the canal were Kelly's main requests of him for the Erie area.
“That's what he said he wants,” Trump said. “He wants sand.”
Kelly, a Butler native who was first elected to Congress in 2010, spent much of his time singing Trump's praises. He said Trump's term has been a “resurrection” of the nation.
“The strongest personality,” Kelly said. “The strongest president we have seen in our lifetime.”The pair hugged when Kelly finished speaking, and Trump gave a last comment on him as Kelly left the stage.“He's in good shape,” Trump said. “You see that. How would you like to be his opponent? But still, you never know.”Erie is the most Democrat-leaning county of Pennsylvania's newly drawn 16th Congressional District. If Kelly were to lose his seat, voting records suggest it would be this section of the district turning out that beat him.But with less than a month to go before Election Day, a Siena College and New York Times poll, the most recent poll in the area, shows Kelly with an 8 percentage point lead over DiNicola.Linda Meade of Erie walked through Wednesday's crowd wearing a Mike Kelly for Congress sticker among several pieces of Trump memorabilia. She said she was there both to support Kelly and see the president.“I see a lot of DiNicola signs,” Meade said. “But maybe it's like Trump where people don't want to say who they're voting for until the day of.”She said she thinks Trump's presence will help Kelly's chances. “DiNicola,” she said, “is just not a very good candidate.”“I just wish I'd see more of Kelly's signs,” Meade said.Rochelle Carlisle of Youngstown said she's trying to decide whether to keep supporting the president.On Trump's Inauguration Day, she said, she and 1,200 other workers were laid off from a General Motors facility.“He came and campaigned with us and he won,” Carlisle said. “Now there are a bunch of us that still don't have jobs.”She was listening Wednesday to see if Trump would say anything about the automotive industry.“Acknowledge that our community is dying,” she said. “He doesn't touch on the subject ever.”Much of Trump's own message was one that communities like Carlisle have already been saved. He spoke at length about steel industry jobs, saying other countries' steel is inferior.“We don't need this product coming in from other nations,” Trump said. “We've got it here.”He, among others who spoke, urged the room to vote.“We need it badly,” Trump said. “We need it badly.”Event organizers turned away some who had ordered tickets but arrived too late to get in.Mike Osborne, 59, of Butler, an industrial mechanic, ordered two tickets and brought his sister. The pair, along with Monica Coleman of Butler, said they were happy to attend but were disappointed to be in the overflow crowd outside the arena.Trump opened the night with words of sympathy for those affected by Hurricane Michael, which hit the coast of Mexico Beach, Fla., earlier in the afternoon.“All of Pennsylvania sends its love and support,” Trump said.News Editor Tom Harrison contributed to this report.
