Gov. Mike DeWine traveled on a state plane to Minnesota Friday morning to meet with Gov. Tim Walz at the Minnesota State Fair.
According to The Columbus Dispatch, DeWine and eight officials left early Friday morning on an Ohio Department of Transportation twin-engine turboprop. They were scheduled to return to Ohio Friday evening.
The trip was apparently part of DeWine’s “Expo 2050” initiative, which he announced earlier this year. In a July press release from DeWine’s office, he explained that the “Expo 2050” task force will recommend a “long-term vision” for the Ohio Expo Center, home to the Ohio State Fair.
“At the Ohio State Fair and other events that occur here, there are countless ways to have fun. We need to find ways to keep that excitement going all year long,” DeWine said in the press release. “Today, I’m announcing the formation of a task force, called ‘Expo 2050,’ to take stock of all of the great things going on at the Ohio Expo Center, as well as the Ohio History Connection and Mapfre Stadium, and to develop a strategic vision for the entire area.”
DeWine named 20 officials to serve on the task force, many of whom accompanied him to Minnesota Friday. The Minnesota State Fair is the second-largest in the nation and attracted more than two million visitors last year.
On Thursday, the second day of the fair, the gathering drew an attendance of more than 133,000.
According to Gov. Walz, a Democrat, DeWine was in town to “learn what makes the Minnesota State Fair the best in the country and bring ideas back to the Ohio State Fair.”
“We toured the Dairy Building and saw the butter sculptures, ate pork chop on-a-stick, and stopped by the Miracle of Birth Barn,” Walz wrote on Twitter. “Is there anything better than spending an afternoon showcasing the Great Minnesota Get-Together?”
We toured the Dairy Building and saw the butter sculptures, ate pork chop on-a-stick, and stopped by the Miracle of Birth Barn.
Is there anything better than spending an afternoon showcasing the Great Minnesota Get-Together? #mnstatefair pic.twitter.com/M0wdaosMxf
— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) August 23, 2019
“With my friend Gov. Tim Walz at the Minnesota State Fair enjoying pork chop on a stick,” DeWine wrote on Twitter.
With my friend @GovTimWalz at the @MSFMedia Minnesota State Fair enjoying a pork chop on a stick! pic.twitter.com/a9SBqjPGZN
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) August 23, 2019
According to The Dispatch, the cost of DeWine’s round-trip flight to the fair hasn’t been calculated yet.
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Mike DeWine and Tim Walz” by Tim Walz.
