Congressman Tim Ryan announces campaign for U.S. Senate

CLEVELAND — Northeast Ohio congressman Tim Ryan has announced his campaign for the U.S. Senate.

That Tim Ryan decided 2022 is the year to go for higher Ohio office is not a surprise presented with what looks like a clear shot to the Democratic nomination for a rare open U.S. Senate seat.

"After 20 years in Congress and the possibility his district may get erased," said News 5 Political Analyst Dr. Tom Sutton of Baldwin Wallace University. "It makes great sense for Tim Ryan to be running for this particularly after his efforts at a presidential campaign and the perennial speculation that he would at some point run for statewide office."

Donald Trump won Ohio twice flipping Democrats in the very district that Ryan represents to do it. Ryan believes he's the Democrat that can win them back and in turn, turn the Senate seat blue in '22.

"I think if you talk to workers about the issues that are important to them," Ryan told News 5. "They want someone to fight for them and they know what they're getting with me because I've been fighting for them for a long time."

The only non judicial Ohio Democrat to win statewide since 2006 has been Sherrod Brown still if Republicans have a nominee that takes the party further right News Sutton believes Ryan might find a lane by appealing to the cross section of voters like the ones he currently represents from the Mahoning Valley to Akron.

"Blue collar, working, you got a parallel with rural workers and farmers and if he can capture that attention in this post-Trump era he may well be a very strong candidate," said Sutton.

"We're at a crossroads in Ohio and across the country," Rep. Ryan said. "Ohioans are working harder than they've ever worked before, they're doing everything right and they still can't get ahead."

In a video, the Democrat pledged to cut Ohio workers "in on the deal."

“I am running to fight like hell in the U.S Senate to cut workers in on the deal,” said Ryan. “Ohioans are working harder than ever, they’re doing everything right, and they’re still falling behind. Countries all over the world are investing billions in infrastructure, education, health care, and their workforce to out-compete American businesses and workers. Our workers need a game plan to level the playing field and bring jobs home to Ohio.”

According to his campaign announcement, Ryan will begin his Workers First Tour to hear from workers in Ohio about the challenges they are facing, starting with a virtual roundtable conversation with nurses and health care workers in Cuyahoga County.

Ryan is a 10-term congressman whose district stretches east from suburban Akron to the Pennsylvania border. He ran for president in 2020 but withdrew after his campaign failed to gain traction.

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