Former Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) is “seriously considering” a run for Ohio governor, his communications adviser told The Hill on Monday.
Dennis Willard said that different people have approached Ryan about running for governor, with some telling him “that they’re dissatisfied with the direction the country’s going.”
Willard said Ryan wants to spend time talking to people across Ohio but noted there was no specific timeline around when he might decide. Still, he suggested Ryan wasn’t going to “take too long to make a decision,” noting that others may be interested in running for Ohio governor if the former congressman opts against a bid.
The news of Ryan’s gubernatorial considerations was first reported by The Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com.
Ryan, who served in the House between 2003 and 2023, has made runs for president and Senate. He was seen a promising Senate candidate for Democrats in Ohio in 2022, but he lost to Vice President Vance that November by 6 points.
Ryan’s campaign lamented at the time that national Democrats hadn’t invested enough in his race, though his loss also underscored Ohio’s increasing rightward shift, no longer being seen as a battleground state.
Willard suggested Ryan’s race for governor would be different this go-around given the personal nature gubernatorial races take on compared to federal Senate races.
“One of the reasons why I think he’s so interested in being governor is he feels, you know, number one, he can come home every night to his family and his young son and still be a very” “present part of their lives,” Willard said. “But also, I think that he would bring that personal touch to the governor’s race.”
“He is an Ohioan, he’s one of them,” he added, describing him as a “magnet for people.”
Former Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton has already announced a bid for governor on the Democratic side; The Blade reported last month that Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D) could also run statewide, potentially as lieutenant governor if former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) runs for governor.
Brown, meanwhile, could potentially run for Senate again in 2026 against Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), who’s serving out the remainder of Vance’s Senate term, or governor.
On the Republican side, former GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, Attorney General Dave Yost and businesswoman Heather Hill are running for the governor’s seat.
Asked what Ryan would do if the former senator decided to run for governor, Willard said that “Tim would take that into consideration and make a decision on what he thought was best for Ohio at that point.”
Still, Democrats have their work cut out for them. The last time a Democrat was elected governor was in 2006 with former Gov. Ted Strickland, the same year Brown ousted then-Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio).
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