Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio announced his presidential candidacy on April 4, relatively late compared to his Democratic competitors. But Ryan already has considerable political experience, during which he’s focused on economic growth proposals for down-on-their-luck areas like his native Youngstown, Ohio.
The former high school quarterback first won election to the House in 2002 at age 29, after two years in the Ohio state Senate. From Ryan’s earliest days in the House, he’s talked up the need for investment in American workers and largely opposed free trade pacts.
In the House, Ryan has largely voted the Democratic leadership line, including supporting the Affordable Care Act, in 2010. Ryan says he supports a “public option” that would allow Americans under age 55 to buy into Medicare, without eliminating private health insurance options.
Ryan is a staunch critic of the Trump administration’s environmental record. Like virtually all of his Democratic rivals, Ryan wants the U.S. to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, in an effort to reduce carbon emissions and invest in clean energy technology.
Reflecting his Midwest constituency, Ryan also advocates strengthening and expanding crop insurance for farmers to protect family farms and reduce obesity.
If Ryan gets traction in the Democratic field, his record on social issues could become a vulnerability. For much of Ryan’s congressional career, he opposed abortion rights. That’s changed in recent years, as Ryan expanded his national profile and eyed higher office. The congressman explained his thinking in a January 2015 Akron Beacon Journal op-ed, “Why I changed my thinking on abortion”.
Ryan also voted for building a fence along the Mexican border in 2006, though many congressional Democrats took that stance at the time.
In his spare time, Ryan practices meditation and wrote a book about the practice in 2012.
