Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will head to the battleground states of Ohio and Pennsylvania next week as she pivots toward the general election.
Clinton is expected to exceed the pledged delegate threshold required to clinch the Democratic nomination on Tuesday. While her Democratic opponent, socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, is poised to campaign in Washington, D.C., ahead of next week’s primary, Clinton is training her sites on territory that Donald Trump hopes to paint red in November.
The rust belt states of Ohio and Pennsylvania are crucial to Trump’s effort to build a GOP coalition on the backs of blue-collar voters that populate Big 10 country. On Monday, Clinton will campaign near Cleveland, which is the site of this summer’s Republican convention.
Both Ohio and Pennsylvania also feature hotly contested Senate races with Republican incumbents. Clinton may look to boost down-ticket candidates in both states next week as part of her effort to unite the party around her candidacy before the Democratic convention kicks off in Philadelphia this summer.
Republican Sens. Rob Portman and Pat Toomey’s re-election bids could determine the balance of the Senate and be shaped by the fight at the top of the ticket.
