Gov. John Kasich will leave his presidential campaign behind for a day to deliver his sixth State of the State speech tonight. And continuing a tradition he began in 2012, he鈥檚 once again taken the annual address on the road to a new city. This time he鈥檚 in Marietta. And residents of that city - and throughout Ohio - will be listening to what he has to say.
There will be nearly 40 events in and around Marietta involving state lawmakers and other officials in town for the State of the State. And the workers at Marietta鈥檚 oldest bar and restaurant are ready for them. 鈥淵ou know, kind of quiet but there鈥檚 a lot of buzz going on and excitement for the big event,鈥� said Robert Farley, the general manager of the Harmar Tavern and Spagno鈥檚 Italian restaurant, which will be providing food for some of the events. "It鈥檚 definitely an exciting event. It鈥檚 not very often that the governor comes to Marietta. We鈥檙e a very historic town.鈥�
Marietta鈥檚 mayor is Joe Matthews. He鈥檚 a Democrat but says he鈥檚 never voted a straight ticket 鈥� and that he likes Kasich. And he hopes those who come in for the speech will walk away with a favorable impression of his town. 鈥淲e have a fantastic city. We have a lot of great events here every year and this is just another feather in our cap as far as I鈥檓 concerned,鈥� said Matthews.
Marietta is the largest community in Washington County, along the Ohio River in southeastern Ohio. The most recent unadjusted unemployment rate in Washington County was 7.8%, quite a bit higher than the state unadjusted rate of 5.6%. Rep. Andy Thompson (R-Marietta) said the shale economy helped his area for a while, but he admitted lower energy costs have hurt the industry. So he鈥檚 looking forward to hearing Kasich talk about economic issues. 鈥淲e鈥檝e taken a bit of a step back now, but certainly, it created a wave of enthusiasm and optimism in our part of the state and in my district in particular that is encouraging," said Thompson. "And I think long term, what we want to hear about is how do we benefit and exploit from this resource?鈥�
Kasich is likely to get national attention with this speech since he鈥檚 still on the presidential campaign trail. And Democrats have been working to draw attention to Kasich鈥檚 economic record, which they say has relied too heavily on tax cuts for the wealthy and has left working families behind. House Minority Leader Fred Strahorn (D-Dayton) said Kasich should get credit for taking the speech to different areas of the state, and that there are many communities that are examples of how those policies haven't worked. 鈥淚 think he purposely tries to pick out places that maybe are off the beaten path and haven鈥檛 been doing as well to try to draw attention to that, so I鈥檓 not actually shocked by that. But more importantly, what I鈥檇 like to see is that the policies that we鈥檙e doing here actually address those people鈥檚 needs and concerns," Strahorn said. "And I don鈥檛 think when we shift tax responsibility or don鈥檛 invest in our state, I don鈥檛 think that helps those communities.鈥�
Marietta was chosen to host the State of the State in part because of its history. It's the oldest permanent settlement in the Northwest Territory 鈥� its 228th birthday is Thursday. Kasich鈥檚 office said in a statement after selecting Marietta that it was fitting that Ohio鈥檚 first city would host the joint session of the House and Senate. It鈥檚 also on the border with West Virginia, which holds its presidential primary next month.
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