Balderson backs early voting

ZANESVILLE — U.S. Rep. Troy Balderson stressed the importance of early voting during a Trump campaign rally Tuesday at American Pride Power Equipment.

The event, intended to bring people together to support the president’s reelection campaign, drew about 70 people.

Balderson told the crowd he is pushing to get his constituents out to vote. His message to people who are afraid of the coronavirus pandemic is to vote by mail or vote early at their local board of elections.

“You can vote 30 days Balderson said.

He added, “If you’re uncertain about going into a poll location (on Election Day), you can do the absentee, you can do the mail-in.”

He said that after speaking with mail carriers in Zanesville and reaching out to post offices in rural areas of his district, he believes the Postal Service will be able to handle an influx of ballots.

In the modest space, attendees easily had a chance to voice their opinions to him about Trump and his campaign.

Gwen Mendenhall said the jobs that out,” have been created under Trump have directly affected her family.

“(My son) has gotten a job in the last four years. He works for Spectrum right now,” she said. “In general, so many more people have been able to make their lives better, the economy’s been better.”

Brandon Palmer, a 26-year-old, said he can stand his ground as a young conservative amid a sea of millennials with more liberal views.

“I definitely feel like people my age are a lot more liberal,” he said. “Plus, I think (Trump’s) policies are better than a lot of the Democrats’.”

Palmer cited his dissatisfaction with the relief package that House Democrats approved in May.

Brian Addis said he appreciates politicians reaching across the aisle, and he hopes to see more compromises.

“I don't think conservatives or liberals, Democrats or Republicans, are islands in their own thinking. I think there’s always overlaps,” Addis said. “Hopefully in Trump's next administration, we can find more common ground within the Democrats and the Republican Party.”

Balderson represents Ohio’s 12th Congressional District, which includes Licking, Delaware and Morrow counties and parts of Muskingum, Franklin, Marion and Richland counties.