INDIANAPOLIS -- Presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in western Indiana Thursday morning for the first of a series of three planned stops in the state.

Clinton, a U.S. senator from New York, is scheduled to stop at the Saratoga restaurant in Terre Haute with U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., at 10:30 a.m. She is then expected to attend a town-hall-style meeting in the Wigwam at Anderson High School at 3:45 p.m., followed by a 8 p.m. EDT rally at Harrison High School in Evansville, according to her campaign staff.

She had been expected to meet with people at a home in New Albany, but that visit will happen next week, a spokesman for her Indiana campaign, Jonathan Swain, told The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Ky.

Several people lined up early Thursday morning for the Terre Haute stop.

"Vigo County is a Democrat county, and it's one of the biggest strongholds in the state of Indiana," said Cindy Andrews, a Clinton supporter. "One of the smartest things she could do here was bring Evan Bayh with her."

The Anderson event is free and open to the public on a first-come, first-to-enter basis. Doors are scheduled to open at 2:15 p.m.

Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, spoke at a rally on her behalf in Richmond on Tuesday.

The Clinton campaign's focus on Indiana comes after her rival for the Democratic nomination, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., campaigned in Plainfield on Saturday.

Indiana probably will see plenty of both candidates during the seven weeks leading to the May 6 primary, which will determine the candidates' share of the state's 72 delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

Because many states hold primaries before May, presidential nominations often are wrapped up before Hoosiers get to vote. But because of this year's tight race, this is the first time in 40 years that Indiana's Democratic presidential primary has had the opportunity to matter.

According to an Associated Press count, Obama has 1,598 delegates, including separately chosen party and elected officials known as superdelegates. Clinton has 1,487, according to the AP. It takes 2,025 delegates to secure the Democratic nomination for president.

Clinton is supported by much of the state's Democratic establishment, including Bayh and former Gov. Joe Kernan. Bayh and three other Indiana superdelegates have endorsed Clinton, while two have backed Obama. Indiana's five Democratic congressmen remain uncommitted.

Presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain held a town hall meeting in Indianapolis last month.