The national tax filing deadline Wednesday is also the date for one of largest rallies by the Cincinnati Tea Party. For the first time the group will gather at Sharonvilles Convention Center as the group draws more supporters from Greater Cincinnatis northern suburbs.(Photo: The Enquirer/ Michael D. Clark)Buy Photo
SHARONVILLE For the first time, the Cincinnati Tea Party's annual tax day rally is being held near the booming northern suburbs of the Interstate 75 corridor.
The new location is in part a "bridge" move, say Tea Party officials, to better connect with the growing, politically conservative influence of Greater Cincinnati communities in Butler and Warren counties as well as southern Dayton, Ohio.
Hundreds of Tea Party supporters are expected Wednesday at the group's rally, held this year at the Sharonville Convention Center in northern Hamilton County next to I-75 and about a mile from the Butler County border.
Cincinnati Tea Party President Ann Becker a resident of Butler County's West Chester Township says the growing mega-corridor between northern Cincinnati and Dayton is bolstering the region's already conservative base.
"Southwest Ohio is one of the nation's conservative powerhouses. And we're working with our Dayton (Tea Party) chapter and Butler and Warren counties to make it even stronger," said Becker.
University of Cincinnati Political Science Professor David Niven agreed, saying the northern communities comprise "probably the richest concentration of conservatives and we obviously see a lot of Tea Party strength in Butler and Warren counties."
In the 2012 presidential election, the political clout the area was considered so vital to winning the Ohio swing state that Republican candidate Mitt Romney held a public rally in West Chester a week before voters went to polls.
And the historic Golden Lamb restaurant in downtown Lebanon has for years been a regular campaign stop in Warren County for national Republican candidates.
Demographics experts predict the northern I-75 corridor including parts of Butler, Warren and Montgomery counties will continue its residential and commercial growth. Within 1015 years, they predict, its population and economic stature will resemble other American mega-regions such as Dallas and Fort Worth in Texas and Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota.
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Tea Party rally targets booming I-75 corridor