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U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan won’t run for the U.S. Senate
YOUNGSTOWN
With ex-Gov. Ted Strickland preparing to make his decision public on running in 2016 for the Senate by the end of the month, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, a close political ally, said he won’t seek the position.
Ryan, of Howland, D-13th, issued a statement Friday that “after much thought and deliberation,” he wouldn’t run.
The seven-term U.S. House member said, “With my new and growing family, I feel now is the time to be close to home.”
U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican from the Cincinnati area, will run for a second six-year term in 2016.
Ryan’s announcement wasn’t a surprise as he’s also considered U.S. Senate bids in 2006 and 2010, running in 2010 as Strickland’s lieutenant governor, and as governor last year. Each time, Ryan, who has called Strickland a political “mentor,” chose to seek re-election to the U.S. House.
Sources close to Strickland told The Vindicator on Jan. 30 the former governor and congressman is running, and plans to announce his bid later this month. Two of the sources repeated Friday that Strickland is running. Strickland said Monday that he’ll “make a decision” by the end of February, but has declined to discuss his candidacy.
David Betras, chairman of the Mahoning County Democratic Party, who backed Ryan, said Friday if Strickland is a Senate candidate, he’d be “150 percent behind him.”
Since The Vindicator article, state and national Republicans have criticized Strickland frequently — sometimes twice a day — on his positions on coal, gun rights and support of Israel.
Cincinnati Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld announced Jan. 22 he would seek the Democratic nomination for Senate next year, is raising money and has put together a campaign team.