Ryan picks up Cleveland Plain Dealer endorsement

Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, the Democratic nominee for Senate in the state, earned the endorsement of Cleveland’s The Plain Dealer on Sunday in his race against Trump-backed Republican nominee J.D. Vance.

“There is not much question as to what the state would get from either of the two candidates – Ryan, as a congressman, having voted with Democrats virtually all of the time and Vance having signed on to Donald Trump’s Big Lie and extremist approach to politics after being highly critical of the former president during the 2016 campaign and afterward,” the editorial board wrote.

Vance declined to participate in an endorsement interview with the paper and Cleveland.com. The editorial board alongside its endorsement posted the audio of its roughly hourlong interview with Ryan.

The two nominees are vying to replace retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) in what is expected to be a close race, despite Ohio’s shift right in recent years.

The editorial board portrayed Ryan as a pragmatic collaborator, acknowledging that although he consistently votes with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), he is “hardly” a sycophant, noting his unsuccessful 2016 challenge to Pelosi for the Speakership.

“Ryan’s focus on grassroots economic development and emphasis on what he calls ‘cutting Ohio workers in on the deal,’ and the pragmatic grasp he showed in discussing the need to stand firm against the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the potential threat of China doing the same with Taiwan add up to a strong argument for Ryan to replace Portman in the Senate,” the editorial board concluded.

The paper’s editorial writers gave a scathing review of Vance’s candidacy, criticizing his decision to not appear for an endorsement interview while also denouncing his embrace of former President Trump’s unfounded claims of mass electoral fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

Vance “has not exhibited the astute judgment necessary to return the Senate to its former status as the world’s greatest deliberative body,” the board wrote.

Ohio handed Trump a victory in the state in both 2016 and 2020 after voting for former President Obama in both 2008 and 2012.

But recent polling has shown Vance and Ryan within a few percentage points in their closely watched race, with some Democrats hoping they may be able to pick up the seat in their quest to retain their razor-thin majority.

But President Biden’s low popularity, continued inflation and historic headwinds against the party in power are still seen as obstacles for Ryan. The nonpartisan Cook Political report rates the contest as “lean Republican.”