Ryan, Vance answer questions from voters in Fox News town hall in Columbus

Exactly one week before Ohio voters head to the polls to select their next senator, candidates Congressman Tim Ryan and J.D. Vance took part in a Fox News town hall in Columbus to address questions from Ohio voters. 

Ryan was first to answer questions from voters. He talked about a range of different issues, such as inflation, crime, abortion and political extremism.

In response to a voter’s question about high gas prices and reducing inflation, Ryan responded that “we need a tax cut, we need to put money in people's pockets if we're going to weather the storm here. So a tax cut in the short term, but then move to natural gas.”

Another topic brought up by a different voter was crime and Ohio Issue 1, an item on the midterm ballot that would let voters decide if judges must consider public safety when setting cash bail. 

“I support making sure that judges have that right in the constitutional amendment. I'm voting yes on that,” Ryan said. 

In regards to reducing crime, Ryan explained that “we need more cops. We need better paid cops, and we need to make sure that we invest into police training.”

On abortion access, Ryan expressed his support for abortion rights. 

“I think we go back to Roe v Wade. In the third term of Roe v. Wade, you could only do it if there was some kind of medical emergency,” Ryan said.“But we don't want J.D. Vance and Ted Cruz and all these guys in the doctor's office.”

A contentious moment during the town hall was when Ryan was asked about the current political climate. Ryan brought up the attack of Paul Pelosi, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, and the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“We just saw what happened to Paul Pelosi, I think it is an absolute tragedy. I don't care what your politics are. I really don't care how you feel about Nancy Pelosi and her politics or anything. She's the third ranking constitutional officer in the United States of America. Her husband is 82 years old and got beat over the head with a hammer. And that is wrong across the board.”

At one point Ryan was asked about a comment he previously made during his campaign, where he said that the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement should be killed and confronted. Ryan addressed his previous comments and explained who he thinks fits in the MAGA extremist category. 

“The guys who stormed the Capitol on January 6th. They are the leaders. They storm the Capitol on January 6th. They beat up 140 police officers and killed one,” Ryan said.

Vance was second to answer questions from Ohio voters. He spent most of his time discussing inflation, the opioid crisis and border security and was quick to criticize the Democrats over rising inflation rates.

Vance began with addressing rising inflation rates, lowering prescription drug prices and the high cost of living.

“Energy goes in everything right? It goes into the diesel fuel that the trucks used to take our food to the grocery store. It goes into the manufacturing process,” Vance said.“So when you have energy getting so expensive, that raises the price of everything else as well. I think we get those two things under control, we stop borrowing and spending and we actually open up Ohio's energy markets, then we'll start to bring those prices under control.”

Next, Vance brought up immigration in relation to labor shortages in Ohio and nationally.

“When fentanyl is coming into our country at such an extraordinary degree brought in by the Mexican drug cartels, that's actually one of the reasons why we have a labor shortage,” Vance said. “Of course, we think about it most of all, because it kills our citizens. We think about it most of all, because it orphans our children. It also creates labor shortages, because this fentanyl takes people out of the workforce and makes them unable to work in good jobs. So I actually think that the question really is if we get control the illegal immigration, that will actually help this problem as well.”

Vance was then asked about whether he trusts the integrity of Ohio’s election system and what his message will be to Ohioans if he does not win.

“I do believe in the integrity of Ohio's elections. I think we have great elections in the state of Ohio,” Vance said.“I expect to get the great honor of going to Washington D.C. and representing the people of Ohio, but of course if things don't go the way that I expect I'll support the guy who wins.”

Towards the end of the town hall, Vance responded to Ryan’s claim that he wants to ban abortion. Vance expressed his support for anti-abortion legislation. 

“We should not, in this country, be aborting babies who can feel pain and who are fully formed. That's my view and I'm certainly willing to support legislation that would make that a reality,” said Vance.

Ohioans will head to the polls on Nov. 8. To find out more about voting in the Athens community, check out The New Political’s Voter’s Guide or go to the Board of Elections’ website.