CAMBRIDGE, Ohio — Ted Strickland and a lone supporter sat side by side Wednesday morning, six days before the election, getting to know each other.

Darwin Jirles, 73, had come to meet his former governor at a campaign stopover inside Theo’s, an 85-year-old family-style restaurant in this small southeast Ohio town known for its Coney Island hot dogs and homemade pie.

There were no other elected officials, campaign surrogates, or welcoming committees in attendance that morning: Even the local Democratic Party chairwoman, who had greeted Strickland’s aides when they arrived, left soon thereafter because she said she had work to do.

Inside the restaurant, dozens of other tables sat empty, save for two sisters who said they had twice backed Strickland for governor — but were considering voting for Republican Sen. Rob Portman this time around.

The 75-year-old Strickland spoke to both of them before sitting down at his own table. He and Jirles, who is retired, talked for nearly an hour about their childhood churches, the local Democrat’s father-in-law (the late Congressman William Natcher), and the difficulties of a polarized electorate. (Strickland said the country is “almost ungovernable.”)