Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Tim Ryan thinks he knows why his party turned its back on him — he would be a “royal pain in the ass” for Senate Democrats if he won the race against GOP challenger J.D. Vance.
In an interview for Political In a statement released Friday, he said he wasn’t even sure whether he would support Senator Chuck Schumer (D-New York) for majority leader if he won.
“I’ll get to the Senate and beholden to absolutely no one, right? And I’ll probably be a royal pain in the ass when I get there,” Ryan said. “And that may be why we don’t get aid.”
As The Washington Post recently reported, while Democrats have been “showering praise” for the congressman, the national party hasn’t helped him as much as he expected, given how competitive the race is. But his pleas for more aid could undermine his argument that he would be independent from party leadership.
Failure to aid Ryan sends a broader message that Democrats are abandoning the state, some in the party say. “I worry that Democrats in Washington are sending a signal to Republicans that if they come and attack a Democrat, Democrats are leaving,” said David Pepper, a former Ohio Democratic Party chairman.
Ryan’s not-so-subtle pleas for more outside aid from Democrats threaten to undermine one of the key strengths of his candidacy: his independence from the Democratic Party.
On Monday night, during the second and final Ohio Senate debate, Vance attacked him for his pleas. “The guy who is beholden to the national party is Tim Ryan, and he begged these guys to come into this race and save him from the campaign that he’s running,” Vance said from the debate stage. (The Washington Post)
The RealClearPolitics polling average gives Vance a 2.3-point lead, with the race tipped to favor the Republican Party.
