June 26, 2012

A Salem heavy equipment company is preparing for a campaign visit from Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

Romney is set to appear at Carter Machinery's headquarters at noon Tuesday. He'll promote his small business and energy policies at the company, which sells the majority of its equipment to the coal industry.

The stop will mark the first campaign visit west of Lynchburg this year for either presidential candidate in what will be a hotly contested race for Virginia.

The former Massachusetts governor made campaign stops in Chantilly and Portsmouth in May. He also delivered the commencement address at Liberty University in Lynchburg.

Virginia is considered a critical battleground state in the fall election. Obama won Virginia in 2008, the first time a Democrat won the state's electoral votes since 1964.