“We are opening our 54th office in Ohio this week,” Hillary for America Ohio Communications Director Harrell Kirstein said. “But we know there is a lot of work to do in communities like Oberlin and all across the state and we’re taking nothing for granted … This will certainly be an important location.”

The office will function as a local campaign center for staff and volunteers, will be used to launch phone banks and canvases and will serve as a location for Clinton surrogates to give speeches.

At the opening, Democratic Congressional candidate Janet Garrett, College sophomore Hayley Drapkin and Campus Organizer for the Clinton Campaign Jalal Ansari — among others — gave speeches to an audience of roughly 50 people.

By opening up the office in Oberlin, they hope to get the College involved in the campaign as well. In the days leading up to Nov. 8, Clinton’s team will host a number of events on campus to get more students registered to vote, according to a campaign spokesperson.

“This is something that we’ve been working really hard at in Oberlin and every community across Ohio,” Kirstein said. “We’re registering people to vote. We want to make sure their voice is heard during the days of early voting and on Nov. 8. We’ve got a ton of community leaders who have gotten involved.”

Donald Trump’s campaign believes the opening of the Oberlin office shows the weakness of Clinton as a candidate. Lorain County — and particularly the city of Oberlin — has been a lock for the Democratic Party in past presidential elections.

Both campaigns also have offices in the city of Lorain, just over 13 miles from Oberlin.

“I think it shows the trouble she’s in,” Lorain County Chairman for the Trump campaign David J. Moore said regarding the opening of the Oberlin office. “Northeast Ohio is predominately a Democrat stronghold, so usually they don’t open up campaign centers … She must be hurting. Oberlin is the last place she would need a campaign office.”

Clinton’s campaign, however, asserts that the opening of the office is not due to a lack of support in the area. Instead, they feel that offices are necessary — even in strongholds like Oberlin — to serve as epicenters for volunteers in Oberlin and surrounding towns.

“We find that in communities where we have a lot of really great support, like we do in Oberlin, are fantastic places to open offices because it gives all of our volunteers a local place to work,” Kirstein said in response to Moore’s comments. “It’s been our plan throughout the summer to get folks on the ground working with our local supporters and people who know the communities best because this election is so critically important.”

According to Ansari, the Oberlin community has exceeded expectations for the Clinton campaign.

“Every time we have events I get too many people. I get so many people who want to volunteer,” Ansari said. “We’re finding new places to put them. We have so much potential to do so much. We’ve registered hundreds of students, we’ve called thousands of people and soon we’re gonna start knocking on doors. There’s so much to do and Oberlin is the best place to do it.”