U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz stumps in Newton

An overflowing crowd of more than 100 people packed the Pizza Ranch in Newton on Sunday to see Republican presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz at a meet and greet. People were packed into the meeting room and dozens more standing at the doorways to hear the candidate speak.

The event started with U.S. Rep. Louis Gohmert prepping the crowd and talking about his friendship with both Cruz and U.S. Rep. Steve King.

“Steve and I both struggled in 2012 to find someone to endorse. We haven’t had to struggle so much this time,” Gohmert said.

Cruz kicked off the event with a couple of jokes about the recent incidents with people climbing the White House walls, poking fun at President Barack Obama wanting out and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton trying to get in.

He then went on to touch on several topics including immigration, jobs, the minimum wage, education, the current state of Washington and Obamacare.

“The important regulatory is we need to repeal every word of Obamacare,” Cruz said. “We need to adopt common sense health care reform that makes health insurance personal, portable and affordable and keeps government from in between us.”

Cruz presented his tax reform plan including a flat tax where “every American can fill out their taxes on a post-it.” He talked about defending free speech along with the fourth and fifth amendments and maintaining and strengthening the 10th amendment, giving rights back to the states.

“That means there are whole areas the federal government has no business sticking its nose in and chief among those is education,” Cruz said. “We need to repeal every word of common core.”

Cruz spoke for about 20 to 25 minutes before taking several questions from the crowd for about 15 minutes. He concluded the event with a call to action, asking those who came out to get out to caucus, talk with their friends and volunteer.

“Together we can turn around this great nation,” Cruz said.

Among those who came out to see Cruz was Pella resident Carolyn Hol. Hol has not made a decision on whom she is supporting yet, but has attended several events in the area.

“We haven’t decided yet but we really like what he stands for,” Hol said. “We want people to vote and be aware of what the issues are.”

Cruz made several stops in Iowa over the weekend and is concluding this tour on Monday with events in Coralville, Clinton and Bettendorf.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com