Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan announces bid for Ohio Senate seat

FORMER OHIO GOP CHAIRWOMAN JANE TIMKEN ANNOUNCES BID FOR OPEN SENATE SEAT

Ryan, 47, briefly and unsuccessfully ran for president in 2020 but failed to gain any significant traction within the Democratic Party. Aside from his short-lived presidential campaign, Ryan, who grew up in Trumbull County, Ohio, gained notoriety in 2017 for his unsuccessful effort to unseat then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

The congressman announced his campaign on Twitter with a video that featured him and one of his children, Brady, riding around to various locales from his life, including his childhood home and the home his grandparents lived in during his childhood.

“The success of America isn’t housed in the halls of Congress, it lies in the calloused hands and unrelenting grit of America’s workers. Those who dug the deepest sent our nation soaring,” Ryan said, later adding, “Neighbors take care of neighbors, I saw it right here every day, and my grandfather was the one everyone turned to.”

A number of Republicans have entered the field, including Republican Josh Mandel, the 43-year-old Marine Corps veteran and two-time treasurer of Ohio, and Jane Timken, the former Ohio GOP chairwoman. Both of them have jockeyed to prove their loyalty to former President Donald Trump, while his former campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, is advising Bernie Moreno’s Ohio’s Republican primary campaign. Cleveland-area businessmen Mike Gibbons has also entered the race.

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Even though the Buckeye State is often considered a swing state, Ohio has been trending toward Republican candidates recently. Trump easily carried the state in both 2016 and 2020, and the GOP currently holds all six statewide executive offices. But, Democrats are hopeful they can capitalize on Portman’s retirement, given Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown was reelected in 2018.