Frances Strickland, wife of democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland, plays the guitar while singing a song she wrote about her husband’s life. BRIAN MARKS | DAILY KENT STATER

Credit: John Proppe

Rep. Ted Strickland (D-OH) is traveling all across the state for his campaign for governor and “eating lots of Twinkies and sleeping in his car,” said his wife, Frances Strickland, as she sang about her husband in a small room decorated with campaign posters in the Student Center.

Strickland brought her acoustic guitar to sing a song she wrote about her husband. At the event yesterday afternoon, she also met with a small crowd of the Kent State chapter of the NAACP and members of College Democrats.

“One of the things that’s tough is getting all of Ted’s background in,” Strickland said, explaining the song.

Strickland sang about how her husband is the eighth of nine children, how they met and how he started working for Congress in 1992.

“Having her here definitely puts a human face on Ted and his personality and where he comes from,” said Kelly Stellrecht, president of College Democrats.

Strickland said she has been working on her husband’s campaigns since he began working in government. One of her focuses is making campaigns more exciting

“We (Democrats) need to put more fun in our campaigns,” Strickland said. “We thought we could try to bring a positive force.”

Strickland also discussed bringing younger voters into campaigns and getting them excited to vote.

“There’s a whole lot more power in the voter than the voters believe in,” she said.

Strickland also took time to field a few questions from the audience about higher education funding and her husband’s views on issues such as gay rights.

“His plan is to increase funding for public education,” she said. “He (Ted Strickland) really believes in public education … (He wants) every student that wants to go to college to be able to go to college. We’re going to have to have some real collaboration and funding.

“If you want to hold jobs and create jobs, you’re going to have to invest in people, the students and the workforce.”

After singing the song about her husband, Strickland took a few minutes to personally meet with students.

“She’s going to be a great first lady,” Stellrecht said.

Contact student politics reporter Kali Price at [email protected].