YOUNGSTOWN — The Joe Biden presidential campaign hired two Mahoning County natives to help the presumptive Democratic nominee in Ohio.

The campaign today announced Jaladah Aslam as its Ohio coalitions director and Jimmy Dahman as its state coordinated campaign director. Both are Youngstown natives.

“We are engaged in a battle for the soul of the nation, and Ohio is on the front lines,” Aslam said. “The coalition we’re building represents our state — diverse and strong. We are fired up and ready for Joe and Kamala” Harris.

Aslam will be working with numerous constituency groups to get Biden elected such as African-Americans, Latinos, women, senior citizens, youth, labor, faith and LGBTQ. Her team also will work with grassroots organizations, develop organizing coalitions and do community outreach in efforts including voter registration, voter contact, recruitment and voter protection.

Aslam is a longtime labor leader and campaign adviser who served as the Valley’s regional organizing director earlier this year for ex-New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s short-lived bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Aslam is the head of the Youngstown Warren Black Caucus and is sergeant at arms for the Mahoning-Trumbull AFL-CIO Labor Council. She is also a retired staff representative for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 8.

She’s worked on several campaigns over the past 25 years, including presidential ones for John Kerry and Barack Obama. She also served on the campaign and transition team of Ted Strickland, when he was elected governor in 2006, along with several other state and local campaigns. She is also a former executive board member of the Ohio Democratic Party and served as a delegate to the previous three Democratic National Conventions.

Dahman is also a Youngstown native who has organized several campaigns.

After working for the coordinated campaign in Cuyahoga County in 2016, he created Town Hall Project, a civil engagement nonprofit that mobilized constituents to hold their elected officials accountable.

He was the early states organizing director for Pete Buttigieg’s primary campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Today’s announcement from Biden’s campaign about several new hires in Ohio comes on the opening day of the Democratic National Convention. Biden will become the party’s official nominee at the close of the convention Thursday. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the convention is being held virtually.

Polls show a tight race in Ohio for the presidency between Biden and President Donald Trump, a Republican.

“We are thrilled to welcome to our team an all-star group of veteran political staffers from across the state,” said Toni Webb, the campaign’s Ohio director. “This team has hit the ground running, engaging with Ohioans in every part of the state who are ready to elect Joe Biden.”

It was about a month ago that Biden’s campaign announced initial hires in Ohio including Webb as state director. This is the second wave of Biden campaign staffers.

Among the other hires announced today include Jada Campbell of Columbus, Rick Neal of Columbus and Angela Shute-Woodson of South Euclid as deputy coalitions directors, working under Aslam.

Also, Faith Oltman, a Sandusky native, was named the campaign’s Ohio press secretary. She most recently served as communications director for Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein. Before that, she was a spokeswoman for the Ohio Senate and House Democrats and at Precision New Media, a Columbus communications consulting firm.

Trump’s campaign never left Ohio after he won the state in the 2016 election and has a large staff throughout the state.

dskolnick@tribtoday.com