HANOVERTON, Ohio — Republican JD Vance, a candidate for one of Ohio’s two U.S. Senate seats, and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, rallied a crowd gathered at the Spread Eagle Tavern in Hanoverton on Friday, urging them to “take back America” on Nov. 8.

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

Cruz and Vance rolled into the Columbiana County village on the Take Back America bus tour Friday, pumping up the crowd during a public rally in front of a historic tavern that’s played host to many prominent GOP figures.

The bus was also scheduled to stop in Marietta Friday.

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

I reached out to Ryan’s camp for a comment about the Hanoverton rally. I added it to story, which is bolded below.

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.

Cruz told tales about how America is in crisis with out-of-control inflation 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, “we’re going to see a red Tsunami. We’re going to retake the House and retake the Senate.”

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 is looking toward another presidential bid in 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 that reckless spending 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 he was contacted by Vance about having the bus tour stop in Hanoverton. Johnson and his family own the Spread Eagle and declared it JD 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 Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and Ohio Supreme Court Justices Sharon Kennedy, Pat DeWine and Pat Fischer — all 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.

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 small 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.”

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.