Tim Ryan Keeping the Pressure on J.D. Vance in Ohio

His well-funded, highly visible campaign has alarm bells going off in GOP circles.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio—It’s August, when campaigns often slip into a summer lull after hard-fought primaries. But there’s been no break for U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan. He’s flown back to the Buckeye State every chance he gets as he campaigns against Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance for Ohio’s open Senate seat. He’s toured steel and auto manufacturing plants, sipped locally sourced craft spirits at a Toledo distillery, and over the weekend, power-walked his way through a 5K to raise awareness for black men’s health care, introducing himself to attendees along the route.

So far, it’s paying off: Over the summer Ryan’s campaign released an internal poll showing him 3 points ahead of Vance in the bid to fill retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman’s seat. 

“You know, we’re running a strong campaign,” Ryan told The Dispatch. “And they’re scared s—less.”

Recent polling does show Vance in first. A new Emerson College poll finds him ahead by 3 percentage points. And a poll by the Trafalgar Group on Monday shows Vance leading 49.5 percent to Ryan’s 44.9 percent.

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  1. lin

    Pay attention to Ryan's commercials. Not one admits that he is a Democrat, or that he's been a serving Democrat congressman since 2003. He brags about voting for Trump's trade deals without admitting that the only times he voted for any Trump policy was when Pelosi did, in fact he votes with her 95% of the time and has voted with Biden 100% of the time. Ryan's commercials paint him as a moderate independent instead of the left-leaning Democrat party faithful he is.
    Vance did not approve of Trump when he was elected. He changed his mind as he watched Trump's policies improve the lives of Americans. As for the claims about his non-profit and the doctor he hired, read the actual facts, don't believe the claims that Ryan's commercials make.

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    Ben Connelly

    He walked the 5k? As our president would say, c’mon man.

    He seems like a decently fit guy for his age. A 5k is not that far to run…

    Ok but on the other hand, Vance is a moron and a jackwad, so there’s that.

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    Matt J

    People forget that Ohio used to be a purple state. Hasn't been like that recently, but we fielded Kasich in 2016, probably the most moderate candidate in that year. We're not a state that goes hard to one side or the other. We're the state that's round on both ends and high in the middle.

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    Barry Alexander

    Celebrity + Trump = primary victory. And exactly squat in the general.

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  5. James D

    Vance is going to win, but it's no surprise that Ryan would be giving him such a hard time. Vance is fake as they come; transparently just another educated elite cosplaying as a salt-of-the-earth blue collar populist champion. Most of the leading lights of the modern "national populist" movement have probably never worked a blue-collar job a day in their lives.

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      Scarlette Tarte

      It speaks enormous volumes of the actual blue collar people who vote for these fake "blue collar" guys like Cruz and Vance. Nothing well of them.

      Why in heck can't they tell the difference? What in hell is wrong with them? Cruz, Cotton, Vance, etc, all attended elite universities and have never gotten their hands dirty in their life. Same for Trump...yet, these people will say "he is one of us".

      I really don't think we should listen to any people as delusional as these. What we should do is vote for people who will support mental health funding...because these people obviously need it.

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      1. Teddy41

        Vance was a Marine and Cotton was an Army infantry (after he got his law degree from Harvard and could have gone JAG) officer who did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm not a big of either one as a political matter, but to say they've never gotten their hands dirty is, as a former Marine myself, unjust.

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          Scarlette Tarte

          Not talking about service. Buttigieg served in Afghanistan too, and was decorated. But I don't think he was ever humping a 60 hour week while punching a clock, doing welding, or laying concrete.

          These guys have NEVER been what they claim to be, and they should not be allowed to claim so. (Buttigieg not included because he doesn't try to say he is "working class")

          I don't mind people saying "I COME from working class stock", if that is indeed true. But to claim their life of relative privilege, built on their momma and daddies working class roots means THEY TOO are working class doesn't hold water.

          Instead of doing that, they should extoll the values that allowed them to move up, standing on those ancestors shoulders.

          If they are elite, they should embrace it, and use that as something wonderful to illustrate how far you can go in this country, and, if you are just given a little assistance, you too can possibly get there.

          Not everyone was born in a log cabin and had a 12 hour a day job at the age of 8. I am exaggerating, but you get my drift.

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  6. GregS

    "That the government—[Sen. Ted Cruz of Florida], [former Rep. Madison Cawthorn], J.D. Vance—that these guys are going to tell you what to do?"

    Did Ryan say Ted Cruz is from Florida, or was that your error?

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    Joe Delanis

    And here I am, all by my lonesome, beating the drum for Tim Ryan to get Biden to pardon his former boss, the late Representative (and former Mahoning County Sheriff) James A Traficant, Jr.

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  8. Drussell2337

    Here in AZ the Repub primaries resulted in a slate of Trump endorsed candidates (with a couple of exceptions) that some conservatives will struggle to vote for, and who are wholly unappealing to the state's largest voting block (Independents). AZ will be blue from top to bottom (with the exception of Treasurer) come November. Rather than run on the illegal immigration/border crisis, parental rights in schools, and inflation/energy issues, the candidates spent an inordinate amount of time on decrying the 2020 election results. This is not a winning issue here in AZ, but these candidates felt it was more appropriate to demonstrate loyalty to Trump than to run on winning issues. It's quite an accomplishment to lose this state given the current administration's performance on these key issues, but this state's GOP is will on their way to achieving it. Sounds like AZ isn't alone here.

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    1. James D

      Early preview of 2024 where Trump will make first the primary and then the general all about obsessively relitigating 2020 and Jan 6th. Not likely to be a winning issue for him.

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    Greg Williams

    Another excellent article Harvest. I don't know how many people in OH read Vance's book or remember his earlier comments on political issues, but for those who do it will be easy to identify the drastic shift his embrace of Trump represents. For me, deciding who to vote for is partly about measuring espoused policy (then and now) against the level of hypocrisy employed to get votes on both sides. It's just one of the sad benchmarks involved in the process of choosing between the lesser of evils.

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    Jen

    Tim Ryan came out against Biden’s student loan forgiveness program. He wouldn’t do that if he was in a winning position in Ohio. Once again the media is going to get snookered. Ohio is red. Redder than red. J.D. Vance is not going to lose. And I say that as someone who can’t stand him.

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    1. James D

      Most Democrats expect Ryan to lose, because Ohio is a GOP state. Ohio is not, however, "redder than red" - that label would go to somewhere like, say, Alabama. Vance losing is not a likelihood, but it is a possibility, and that possibility forcing the GOP to play defense somewhere they really shouldn't need to is very valuable for the Dems in this cycle.

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        🐝 BusyBusyBee 🐝

        I’m sure McConnell isn’t thrilled about having to drop $28 million on Vance in Ohio.

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