NILES, OHIO — It’s just past 9 a.m. at the Ryan home in this Trumbull County suburb in Ohio, and the three kids are off to school for the day: the older two in high school and the 5-year-old off settling in for his first week in kindergarten. He goes to the same place where his mother works as a second grade teacher.

Tim Ryan is nibbling on the fresh cinnamon muffins his wife left on the kitchen counter. Outside the window, a trampoline, a swing set, a basketball hoop, and a scattering of toys serve as a reminder that this guy is pretty much like any other suburban dad in Northeast Ohio, except that he serves in one of the most unliked professions in this country: Congress. Also, he’s running for president.