Hillary Clinton Speaks in New Haven on Saturday

Everywhere Hillary Clinton goes lately, it seems, amounts to a homecoming of sorts.

The Democratic presidential candidate's winning primary campaign in New York was filled with stops throughout the state she calls home, having represented it in the Senate. Before she arrived at a rally in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Friday night, the city's mayor praised her as a "local woman who made it big."

On Saturday, she joined families at a doughnut shop in New Haven, Connecticut, a few blocks from Yale University, where she attended law school and met her future husband, President Bill Clinton. Clinton was introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who spoke of her ties to Yale and work on child welfare issues.

"You know New Haven," the congresswoman said, recalling that Clinton campaigned in 1992 with DeLauro's mother at Sally's Apizza, a local restaurant known for its thin crust pizza.

Looking to connect, Clinton often talks up her local ties, recounting stories from her past as a lawyer, child advocate, political spouse, lawmaker and diplomat that spans decades. She shared memories of growing up in Park Ridge, Illinois, during a rally in suburban Chicago before the state's primary. In Miami Beach, she met with workers at the famed Fontainebleu Hotel, waxing nostalgic about staying there as a young woman. In Texas, she recalled her work registering Latino voters in the Rio Grande Valley during the 1972 election.

Pennsylvania and Connecticut, two of the five states holding primaries on Tuesday, have both played a role in Clinton's upbringing.

Her father's family hailed from Pennsylvania: Clinton's grandfather worked in a Scranton lace mill and her father, Hugh Rodham, grew up there and played football at Penn State. Clinton often talks of happy memories at her family's summer cottage on nearby Lake Winola.

When she arrived in Scranton during dinnertime, Clinton stopped at a local Italian restaurant, Casa Bella, joined by her two brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham. Walking among the tables, diners reminded her of her family ties.

"I met people who said things to me like, 'I knew your cousins. I knew your uncles.' I had one man say, 'Didn't we sled down Court Street one winter?'" Clinton said at a rally in nearby Dunmore. "It just brings back a flood of the best memories and the best people."

Connecticut was the training ground of Clinton's legal career and her work as a child advocate. At an event to discuss the minimum wage and equal pay, Clinton spoke of her "great affection for New Haven" and recalled making the rounds with doctors at Yale-New Haven Hospital to help abused children.

"I loved living here and I'm also impressed with the changes," Clinton said, telling the city's mayor, Toni Harp, "I want to be a good partner to you and the people of this state."

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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