Democrats should pick Ryan in Senate race

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan is Democrats' best hope to win the U.S. Senate seat of the retiring Rob Portman, R-Cincinnati. Ryan, D-Niles, has long been mentioned as a possible candidate for higher office. But aside from a brief run for president in 2019, Ryan, 48, has chosen to remain in the House, representing the Mahoning Valley. He served two years in the Ohio Senate before taking his seat in Congress in 2003. That experience makes Ryan the best of the three candidates seeking their party's nomination. Also in the race are Morgan Harper, 38, a lawyer and activist, and Traci "TJ" Johnson, who declined to give us her age, an activist who runs her own tech company. Harper previously worked for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as a senior adviser to its former director, Richard Cordray. She unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Rep. Joyce Betty, D-Columbus, in their party's primary in 2020, drawing support from progressive organizations. Johnson has experience working throughout state government, including for the Attorney General's Office and the Department of Administrative Services. She has run unsuccessfully for the Ohio General Assembly and the U.S. Senate before. In endorsement interviews, we found Harper and Johnson knowledgeable and passionate about the issues. They are to be commended for offering Democrats an alternative to Ryan, who quickly emerged as the frontrunner in the race. Neither, however, has prevailed in a general election and thus remains untested in elected office. The winner of the Democratic primary will face whomever emerges from the crowded and contentious Republican primary in which most of the candidates had been vying to win the endorsement of former President Donald Trump. He endorsed author J.D. Vance on Friday. We believe Ryan's brand of center-left politics makes him the Democratic candidate best positioned to win in a general election matchup. Ohio isn't the purple state it once was, trending redder in recent years, including delivering Trump 8 percentage-point wins in 2016 and 2020. Indeed, Democrats have largely seen their statewide ambitions crushed under the weight of the rising red tide. The only ones who have prevailed in recent years are a few Ohio Supreme Court justices, whose party wasn't listed on the general election ballot, and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Cleveland. (Brown has endorsed Ryan, as have Beatty and U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, who represents parts of Lorain County.) Putting a progressive who isn't a known quantity like Brown through to the general election might work in a deep-blue state, but it's unlikely to succeed in Ohio. To win here, Democrats need someone who can pull moderate independents and Republicans to his or her side. Ryan has played up his roots in the union halls and manufacturing centers of the Mahoning Valley and kept a tight focus on the economy and issues important to working-class voters. It's an approach that's similar to Brown's in many ways. In an endorsement interview, Ryan repeatedly steered the conversation back to economic issues, telling us that inflation was the No. 1 issue that voters had brought up with him on the campaign trail. He talked about bringing industry back to Ohio, supporting labor, cutting taxes for workers and the need for the United States to take a strong stand against China's rising economic power. (He has faced some backlash for his anti-China rhetoric.) He has been a strong backer of a plan to bring a submarine repair facility to Lorain and a supply depot to Lordstown. Ryan also supports protecting voting rights, reforming the criminal justice system and confronting climate change. He also said he'd support changes to the Senate filibuster if elected. Ryan has been criticized from the left because he once held an A rating from the National Rifle Association and was pro-life. Ryan told us his views had evolved over time. Although he's a hunter, Ryan said school shootings led him to support more gun regulations, including universal background checks. He explained his evolution on abortion by saying he was raised Catholic, but over time realized it was a matter of freedom. We don't find such changes of heart disqualifying, nor should Democrats. Ryan has the most experience and a platform that should have broad appeal in the general election. For those reasons, Democrats should back him in the primary May 3.