Romney and Ryan visit Celina, Ohio

CELINA, Ohio (WANE) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and running mate Paul Ryan addressed around 2,000 people at a campaign stop in Celina, Ohio Sunday.

"It is extremely exciting," Matt Gilmore, the chairman of the Mercer County Republican Party, said. "The buzz in town and throughout the county over the last three days has just been phenomenal."

This was Romney's second trip in a week to Northwest Ohio. On Thursday, he visited a high school in Defiance.

"That's exciting," said Jesse Steiner, the superintendent of Celina City Schools. "Anytime something like this happens in Celina, it's good for the community. It's good for the county."

NewsChannel 15 was at the rally. The candidates' messages focused on the importance of small businesses, jobs and the deficit.

Romney said, "We're created by small business. I didn't just read about small business. I didn't just study it in school. I lived small business. I know what it's like to start a business."

There were a few small business owners in the crowd on Sunday.

"I am a female business owner, and I think Governor Romney really gets where our businesses need to go," said Ann Staugler, a business owner for Fort Recovery Ohio.

Leaders with both the county's Republican and Democratic parties said the trip is the first by a major presidential or vice presidential candidate since 1988. In that year, former Indiana U.S. Senator, Dan Quayle visited Celina to help get George H.W. Bush into the White House.

The election is a little over a week away, and poll results show President Obama and Gov. Romney nearly even in the Ohio.