Tim Ryan won’t appear with Biden in Ohio

Rep. Tim Ryan, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Ohio, will not appear with President Biden in Cleveland on Wednesday as the president works to tout a program benefitting union workers. 

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Nan Whaley will also be absent from the visit. Both Ryan’s and Whaley’s campaigns have cited unavoidable scheduling conflicts. 

Biden will be joined by a number of notable Democrats from the Buckeye State, including Sen. Sherrod Brown, Rep. Shantel Brown, Rep. Marcy Kaptur and Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and senior White House adviser Gene Sperling will also be in attendance. 

The president is looking to boost his standing among blue-collar voters, from whom he has usually enjoyed support.

He will deliver an address at the Iron Workers Local Union No. 17 Training Center and announce an administrative rule from his coronavirus relief package that will allow multi-company pensions to be made financially. The move is supposed to deliver benefits to between 2 million and 3 million workers and retirees. 

However, soaring inflation has severely damaged Biden’s approval rating. A NewsNation-DDHQ poll released late last month shows that only 42 percent of U.S. voters approve of the job Biden is doing in the White House. By comparison, 58 percent say they disapprove.

Biden’s approval rating could stand to hurt down-ballot Democrats like Ryan and Whaley running in November’s midterm elections, particularly in a red-leaning state like Ohio. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates Ryan’s Senate race as “lean Republican” and Whaley’s gubernatorial challenge to incumbent Gov. Mike DeWine (R) as “likely Republican.” 

Ohio Republican Senate nominee J.D. Vance released a statement on Wednesday tying Ryan to Biden and noting Ryan’s absence from the event. 

“Ryan has worked in lockstep with Biden to destroy our economy and Ohio’s middle class is suffering today because of it,” Vance said. “But now, for the second time in two months, Ryan is refusing to be seen in public with his own party’s president.”