Bill Clinton to campaign for Tsongas

In a major coup, former President Bill Clinton will be coming to Lowell later this month to campaign with Niki Tsongas, the Democratic nominee in the Fifth Congressional District.

"We're very exited," said Katie Elbert, spokeswoman for Tsongas. "The stakes are high in this election."

Clinton is slated to come to the Lowell Memorial Auditorium on Sept. 30, about two weeks before an election that is starting to get national attention and shaping up to be an interesting battle between Tsongas and Republican Jim Ogonowski.

Elbert said the event would involve a rally, but details on who can and will attend, and if tickets will be sold, have yet to be worked out. She said the campaign reached out to Clinton about a week and a half ago, and he agreed to come.

Clinton and Tsongas go back at least to 1992, when Niki's late husband, Paul Tsongas, vied with Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. Tsongas won the New Hampshire primary, but the gap was narrow enough that Clinton was deemed the "Comeback Kid" and went on to beat Tsongas to win the nomination.