WASHINGTON — Rep. Tim Ryan announced Monday that he is running for Ohio’s open Senate seat, becoming the first high-profile Democrat to jump into the race.
Republican Sen. Rob Portman’s retirement opened up the Senate race in the Buckeye State, which has shifted towardsRepublicans in recent election cycles. Ryan’s announcement centered his campaign on working-class voters, whom he also made the focus of his unsuccessful presidential run in 2020.
“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,” Ryan said in a three-minute video. “I’ll work with anyone to rebuild our economy, but I’ll never sell out our workers.”
Two other Democrats recently passed on running. Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley announced last week that she would run for governor. Amy Acton, the state’s former public health director, said recently that she would not run for Senate.
Ryan was expected to jump into the race, and he posted a strong first fundraising quarter with $1.2 million. His campaign had $1 million on hand as of March 31, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Ohio is not one of the eight states that Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates as battlegrounds, but Democrats are optimistic they can put the state in play, especially with Portman retiring. President Donald Trump carried the state by 8 percentage points in 2016 and 2020, increasing his margin of victory by 30,000 votes.
Ryan, whose northeast Ohio congressional district could be eliminated during the next round of congressional redistricting, was believed to be interested previously in challenging Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine in 2022. But Portman’s surprise exit caused him to reconsider his plans.
Ryan was first elected to the House in 2002 after serving in the state Senate. He ran to replace former Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., his former boss, who was facing jail time for bribery and racketeering. Ryan won the primary despite being outspent by Democratic Rep. Tom Sawyer, who was drawn into the race due to redistricting. Ryan went on to win the general election, also defeating Traficant, who ran as an independent from jail.
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(Jessica Wehrman contributed to this report.)
