Anne Holton stops in Roanoke on campaign trail for her husband

ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - Campaigning for the Democratic ticket, Anne Holton, the wife of vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine made a stop in her hometown of Roanoke on Friday morning.

She met with Roanoke City Council, as well as campaign volunteers and also toured Virginia Western Community College while in the Star City.

This is one of the first in-person campaign stops in Virginia from the Democratic party since the Democratic National Convention.

Although Clinton's ads in Virginia are currently suspended, Holton said despite her lead in polls, it's still a purple state.

Arriving in a motorcade of Secret Service, it's the first time we've seen Holton, surrounded by that level of federal security.

She still received a warm welcome back to her hometown. After making her rounds to Roanoke officials, she headed to shake hands with the volunteers.

Despite a lead in the polls she says the battle for Virginia voters is far from over.

"Virginia is a microcosm of the nation, we really are a purple state. So we have to work together if we are going to get anything done. Tim knows how to do that, Hillary knows how to do that, it's just a treat to be part of this," Holton said.

And the Democratic party will be leaning on both Holton and her husband Kaine to pull in their home state of voters.

A strategy that WSLS 10 political analyst Dr. Ed Lynch says is crucial.

"One of the major reasons, if not the major reason, that Senator Tim Kaine was chosen for this ticket is to get Virginia's 13 electoral votes," Lynch said.

Lynch said her visit to Virginia Western Community College is a move to get back a key demographic of voters.

"One of the very few vulnerabilities that the Clinton ticket has is alienated young people," Lynch said. "Most of our students here at Hollins were for Bernie Sanders, that's true of most young people all over the country and I think her visit indicates that the Clinton campaign isn't sure that they have those voters nailed down yet, even in Virginia," Lynch said.

With the election only two months away, Lynch says we could be seeing more visits like this in the near future.


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