CLEVELAND — Tim Ryan is projected to win the Democratic Senate Primary, according to ABC News. Ryan cruised his way to his party’s nomination for an open Senate seat Tuesday and will now take on the winner of one of the most contentious and closely watched Republican primaries in the nation.
You can watch Ryan speak to his supporters in the player below:
Ryan was heavily favored to win his three-way Democratic primary against progressive Morgan Harper, a former consumer protection attorney, and Columbus activist and tech exec Traci Johnson. But he is expected to face an uphill battle this fall in a state that was once a political bellwether but voted for Trump twice by an 8-point margin.
Ryan, a 10-term Democratic congressman who ran a failed bid for president in 2020, has tried to distance himself from the national Democratic Party ahead of what is expected to be a brutal November for Democrats. Campaigning in sweatshirts and baseball caps, he has fashioned himself as a blue-collar crusader fighting for working families.
His campaign released the following statement on his victory:
“Tim is a tenacious champion for working Ohioans: he understands that all work has dignity, and in the Senate he’ll keep fighting to make sure all working families have a fair shot at success. While the out-of-touch millionaires in the GOP primary have spent months leveling vicious and embarrassing attacks against each other, Tim has focused on the issues that matter most to the people of his state and putting their interests first – and those are the values he’ll bring to serving in the U.S. Senate.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
