HAMMOND | U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton will hold a rally noon Friday at the 5,000-seat Civic Center.

Mayor Tom McDermott Jr., who supports her presidential bid over Sen. Barack Obama, said Wednesday he hopes all residents of Northwest Indiana will attend.

Doors open at 10 a.m. for the event, which the Clinton campaign is billing as a town hall meeting titled "Solutions for the American Economy."

The Clinton campaign said Wednesday afternoon Hammond will be her only scheduled stop in Northwest Indiana on Friday.

She also will be visiting South Bend, Fort Wayne and Muncie on Friday and Indianapolis and New Albany on Saturday.

Sen. Clinton, former President Bill Clinton and their daughter, Chelsea, are all expected to tour other communities throughout Lake and Porter County on future dates to battle Obama for votes in the May 6 primary.

Indiana is a battlefield state for Democrats for the first time in 40 years. The late Robert Kennedy visited Hammond in 1968. It was one of three stops he made in Lake County during the campaign.

Obama is opening a campaign headquarters in Gary, and Clinton is expected to open at least one in the region in the near future.

Gannet Tseggai, Indiana Obama Campaign spokeswoman, said Obama will compete vigorously for the state's 72 delegate.

Obama currently leads Clinton in the delegate count by more than 120.

Lake County Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez, a Clinton supporter, said Wednesday he expects large numbers of Northwest Indiana's Hispanic population to rally to her support.

"Its not that they don't like Obama, but I think they identify with her being a family woman, raising a daughter. Young and old appear to be identifying with a lot of the issues of her campaign."