Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, announced his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday, ending months of speculation over his next step.
Ryan, who ran for House minority leader in 2017 and floated the idea of mounting an intra-caucus bid against Nancy Pelosi for the House speakership, announced in a campaign video released on his website that he would be throwing his name into the already-crowded Democratic field for president.
“As a congressman from Youngstown, Ohio for almost 20 years, I’ve watched the American Dream slip through the fingers of many Americans,” Ryan says on the website. “That’s why I am running for president. It’s time to do something.”
Ryan, 45, was first elected to Congress in 2002 and has been a long-term fixture in the House Appropriations Committee. As a lawmaker from Ohio’s automobile manufacturer region, Ryan has free trade and taking on China a central theme of his congressional career. The Ohio lawmaker was widely seen as one of the instrumental people in delivering House Democrats their congressional majority in 2018, actively campaigning and fundraising for competitive seats throughout the Midwest and beyond that ended in wins for his party.
“As I travel through Ohio and the country, I’ve been inspired by the solutions that exist. On every issue, from manufacturing, to health care, to schools and education, to taking care of and healing our Vets, I find brilliant Americans who are innovating and creating REAL solutions,” Ryan wrote on the website ahead of the campaign launch. “And our current government and leaders are in the way of these solutions being implemented on a broad scale. We must invest in and bring the solutions that are working to communities across the country.”
“A quiet revolution is happening in this country. One that is driven by compassion and the independent spirit our nation is known for,” he said. It’s time for us to invest in our values so we can focus on what really matters: healing and uniting our nation.”
The announcement ends months of speculation over Ryan’s presidential intentions. Ryan openly flirted with the idea of running for president, touting his ability to win over white, working class voters, a demographic that experts have perceived as problematic for Democrats over the last several election cycles.
“I think this country is divided. I think we’re not focused on the issues that people are really concerned about — how they’re going to have retirement security, how they’re going to have enough to make their house payment,” Ryan said in an interview with Fox News in late February.
Ryan joining the race makes him the 17th major candidate seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.
