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WEST CHESTER TWP. — Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is scheduled to visit Butler County Friday, officials from her local campaign, said today, Oct. 14.

The first local visit from the Alaska Governor is expected to draw thousands to the Square of Union Centre area of West Chester, a newly built community park situated near Lakota West High School and the heavily traveled Union Centre Boulevard in West Chester Twp.

Officials from the Palin campaign said they are sending out more than 150,000 "robo-calls" this afternoon to alert local supporters of her pending arrival.

Gates open at 8:30 a.m., Friday, with pre-programming beginning at 10:30 a.m. Palin is expected to take the stage at 11:30 a.m.

Tickets will be required for the event, and can be picked up starting Wednesday, Oct. 15, at the Butler County GOP Headquarters, 5964 Golf Club Lane, and the West Chester office of the Friends of John Boehner, 7908 Cincinnati-Dayton Rd Suite I. Both facilities will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Township officials will be meeting with members of the McCain/Palin campaign today to determine logistics for the visit, including road closures, checkpoints and gates and available parking.

"Regardless of the event, when West Chester can be in the national spotlight, it's a wonderful opportunity for our community," said Judi Boyko, West Chester Twp. administrator.

Scott Owens, the chairman of the McCain/Palin campaign in Butler County. said today he had the site picked out "probably two months ago."

"I had to lobby as the McCain chair why that site would be good and everybody bought into it," Owens said, adding the visit once again thrusts southwest Ohio, and more specifically Butler County, into the national spotlight.

"I think this just proves once again the importance of Butler County in this election," Owens said. "We are right in the middle of a very important election and once again Butler County is in the middle of it. All eyes are on Butler County."

All eyes were on West Chester in 2004 when President George Bush made a campaign stop at Voice of America Park. The event drew more than 50,000 people, and was one of the largest of its kind late in the incumbent's campaign, according to organizers at the time.

In 2004, voting results showed the Bush/Cheney ticket in Butler County received 106,735 votes compared to 54,185 for the John Kerry/John Edwards campaign, a 66 percent to 34 percent edge.

That difference of 52,550 votes gave Butler County the largest plurality in the state, local campaign officials said then, with Warren and Clermont counties, also Republican strongholds, coming in second and third.

"We were recognized on a national level about our efforts of getting out the vote, and that's probably why they're bringing them here," Owens said, adding the excitement may not be over.

"I have a feeling that we're probably going to see Palin and McCain in southwest Ohio again by election day."

The announcement of Palin's visit comes on the heals of a recent scandal in her home state, now known as "Troopergate."

Former Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan said Monday, Oct. 13 he felt "relieved" by a legislative report concluding that Palin abused her authority by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper.

Monegan declined to say in an interview with NBC's "Today" show what legal options, if any, he might be exploring in the wake of the findings announced late Friday in Alaska by investigator Stephen Branchflower.

In his report Friday to a bipartisan panel that looked into the matter, Branchflower found Palin in violation of a state ethics law that prohibits public officials from using their office for personal gain. Palin has said that Monegan's tenure as the state's lead law enforcement officer ended because of policy differences.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.