Three candidates, three airplanes, one very important state: Romney/Ryan, Biden make last Ohio stops

CLEVELAND - The Republican and Democratic candidates’ paths converged Tuesday in the state they both so badly covet.

Their planes all landed at Hopkins Airport in Cleveland, as the full Republican ticket of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan stepped off one and Vice President Joe Biden the other.

Each made stops in the area, one last chance to have their voices heard in the battleground state.

Vice President Biden, joined by his wife Jill, daughter Ashley, and granddaughters Naomi and Nicole, made a surprise Election Day visit to Landmark Restaurant on East 54th Street and St. Clair Ave. for lunch.

Biden showed his trademark sense of humor walking through the diner, chatting and taking photos with patrons, according to a pool report.

When asked if he would run in 2016, Biden told a woman, "Oh, I'm going to go back home and run for county council or something."

Another woman told Biden she voted at 6:30 a.m., right when polls open, to which he jokingly responded, "You know 6:30 votes count more than 8:30 votes!"

While Biden schmoozed with folks at the Greek diner, Romney and Ryan stopped by their campaign’s Richmond Heights field office for a final visit.

The candidates have now left the state with so much on the line, taking off from the runway and waiting to see how the votes shake out.