HANOVERTON — Ohio Republican U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, rallied crowd members gathered at the Spread Eagle Tavern on Friday and urged them to take back America on Nov. 8.

“Ohio is the battleground for taking the country back,” Cruz said.

Cruz and Vance rolled into Hanoverton on the Take Back America bus tour Friday, pumping up the crowd during a public rally on Plymouth Street in front of the historic tavern that’s played host to prominent GOP figures. The bus also was scheduled to stop in Marietta later in the day.

Vance talked about inflation caused by the policies of President Joe Biden, the problems at the southern border, the need to unleash Ohio energy and to support police. He talked about his family and about second chances, saying the American dream is a dream of second chances. Those chances can’t happen under the current administration, he said.

Vance criticized the record of his opponent, Democrat U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, saying he votes with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Biden every time and he’s been in office 20 years. He told the crowd to send him back to Youngstown to get a real job.

“Maybe we should deport Tim Ryan,” he quipped.

Vance asked the attendees to get as many of their friends and family members to the polls as possible and to let them know what’s at stake, why they should vote for him and why they shouldn’t give Ryan a promotion to the U.S. Senate.

Izzi Levy, Tim for Ohio spokesperson, said in a written response that Ryan ran against Pelosi for House Speaker in 2016 and was one of the first Democrats to come out and say Biden shouldn’t run for president in 2024.

“J.D. Vance is lying about Tim — one of the most bipartisan members of the entire Congress — and leaning on out-of-state allies because he’s a carpetbagging fraud who brought a Big Pharma mouthpiece to the epicenter of Ohio’s opioid epidemic, called law enforcement ‘corrupt’ and thinks it’s ‘reasonable’ to force victims of rape or incest to have their rapist’s baby,” Levy said.

At one of the speeches Vance gave previously, he recalled seeing a woman in the crowd crying. He approached her after he was finished and asked why she was crying and learned her story was like his Mamaw’s, but her daughter died from an overdose and she was trying to raise her grandchildren with food costs and gas prices and everything going up.

“You deserve better from your federal government. You deserve better from your leadership,” he said

Cruz told contrasting tales, about how America is in crisis with out-of-control inflation, prices of everything skyrocketing, and bad domestic, economic and foreign policies by the Biden administration. But he also said a revival is coming.

“I’m here to tell you this country is waking up,” Cruz said, adding that people’s eyes are opening.

He said on Election Day, they’re not just going to see a red wave.

“We’re going to see a red tsunami. We’re going to retake the House and retake the Senate,” Cruz said.

After the public rally, both Cruz and Vance met with the press to answer questions about Social Security, the economy, high prices and whether Cruz was looking toward 2024.

“We have to stop borrowing and spending money we don’t have,” Vance said.

He also said Social Security and Medicare must be funded, adding the reckless spending by Democrats threatens Social Security. Cruz said his focus right now is on 2022 and supporting fellow Republicans.

“This is grassroots America right here,” Columbiana County Republican Party Chairman David Johnson said looking over the crowd.

He talked to some of the people as they were waiting for the rally to begin and said “everyone’s just thrilled to be here. When you have a national figure come to a little town like Hanoverton, it’s kind of special,” Johnson said.

Johnson said he was contacted by Vance about having the bus tour stop in Hanoverton. Johnson and his family own the Spread Eagle and declared it J.D. Vance Day at the tavern with special guest Ted Cruz.

As is tradition when special guests and national politicians come to town, he named two chairs after them and had plates with their engraved names attached to the chairs.

Other guests included Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and Ohio Supreme Court Justices Sharon Kennedy, Pat DeWine and Pat Fischer, Republicans who are all on the ballot, with Kennedy running for Chief Justice against Democrat Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner. Yost, DeWine and Fischer are all running for re-election against Democrat opponents.

Several other candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot also attended, including state Sen. Mike Rulli, R-Salem, state Representative candidates Republican Monica Robb Blasdel (79th District) and independent Greg Beight (59th District), Republican Columbiana County Commissioner Mike Halleck, and 7th District Court of Appeals judge candidate Republican Mark Hanna.

Johnson said this was a chance for residents to hear directly from Vance about his vision for America, commenting that it’s a stark contrast to Ryan, who he said votes with Pelosi and Biden.

“Our national economy has been run right into the ditch,” he said.

Henry Bergfeld of Summitville said he attended the rally to listen.

“I know it’s kind of a close election. I am opposed to full-time politicians such as what we have in Ryan. All he’s done is support Pelosi and Biden. His record does not show he’s an independent,” Bergfeld said.

As a resident of the village where a company based in Canada wants to locate a solar-powered electric generation facility that includes 13-foot high solar panels, he’s concerned about his community.

“If that solar project goes through, Summitville will be a ghost town,” he said. “We’ve got to be concerned about agricultural land.”

Tractors lined Plymouth Street in support of agriculture, some with signs promoting FAKS, the Franklin Against Kensington Solar Political Action Committee opposing the solar panel project. Bergfeld wore a FAKS shirt.

Holding a sign that said “Biden Inflation, The Cost of Voting Stupid,” Kim Balint of Homeworth said “we’re definitely conservative. We back everything J.D. Vance believes in.”

After the rally, Vance and Cruz invited members of the crowd to join them by the bus for photos and autographs and to also sign the bus. Cruz talked about the national bus tour that kicked off in Texas and is traveling through 17 states, telling the crowd, “sign the bus so you can come with us.”

Beverly Rine of Youngstown said she attended a rally in Hanoverton four years ago and wanted to come to hear Vance and Cruz as she added her signature to the thousand or more already covering both sides of the bus.

“We gotta take America back,” she said.

Prior to Vance and Cruz arriving, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, former Ohio Treasurer, pulled behind the Spread Eagle Tavern with the Yes on Issue 1 bus promoting Ohio Issue 1, a constitutional amendment on the ballot to allow judges to consider the safety of the community when setting bail for defendants. The Ohio Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that judges can only consider whether bail will ensure a defendant shows up for court.

“It’s in your hands now,” he told the crowd.

Yost also spoke in favor of Issue 1 and shared a disturbing story about a man who was released on bond and shot a father in front of his four kids, noting that people may ask why he was even on the streets. Then he outlined the decision by the Ohio Supreme Court and the need for Issue 1.

After Johnson introduced the various candidates and spoke out about against Ryan, Pelosi, Biden and Schumer, before Vance took the stage, he said, “Our whole future depends on this next election. If we don’t stop these idiots, we aren’t going to have a country.”