TOLEDO, Ohio — There was no rain on the Toledo Labor Day parade Monday, but rather a flood of opportunity for local candidates as they got to make their pitches to one of Toledo's largest groups of voters.
"We need to show them appreciation," Toledo City Councilwoman Yvonne Harper, who is up for re-election in November, said. "We respect them. They have some hard jobs. Labor is labor."
The parade was a celebration of workers with some politics sprinkled in.
"We're out here to celebrate labor and all the hard work that those employees put in every day, trying to make our city safer, and just trying to make the community better," Councilman Tyrone Riley, also up for re-election, said.
"You're talking to a 30-plus (year) ex-union member," said incumbent Councilman Chris Delaney, looking to retain his seat this year. "This is what brings the community together. This is what builds the community and I'm here for the brotherhood."
Meanwhile, political outsiders tried to get their names and messages out to the masses.
"We forget a lot of times how important every one of these people are to everything that we do," said Abigail Sadowy, a Republican who is running against incumbent Matt Cherry for a seat on Toledo city council.
"Without all of these laborers here, we would not have Toledo," added Republican Tina Scott, a candidate for Toledo's first district, which Riley currently serves. "Toledo would not be a whole and we really need to support them."
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