43
Tim Ryan for VP? He's on Clinton's list
YOUNGSTOWN
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, one of Hillary Clinton’s earliest and most vocal supporters in Congress, is among those being considered by the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate as her running mate.
Ryan, of Howland, D-13th, was listed in a Wall Street Journal article – one that cited several unidentified Democrats – as being on Clinton’s preliminary list of nine potential vice-presidential candidates.
In a written statement, Ryan isn’t shooting down the possibility of accepting the offer if it’s extended.
“Regardless of who is chosen as vice president, I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure Hillary Clinton is the next president of the United States,” Ryan wrote. “As recent events have shown, we are living in trying times and we need a serious leader who has the experience and temperament necessary to tackle our immensely complex global and domestic issues.”
Ryan campaigned for Clinton during the primary, including stumping for her in Iowa and New Hampshire.
During a March 12 campaign stop at M7 Technologies in Youngstown, Clinton shared the stage with Ryan and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, who widely has been reported as a potential running mate.
At that rally, three days before the Democratic primary in Ohio that Clinton won, she said of Ryan: “I can’t tell you how proud I am to not only work with him, but to have him as my friend.”
Ryan previously considered bids for governor and a seat in the U.S. Senate, but always has opted to seek re-election to the position he first won in 2002.
If Ryan is selected as Clinton’s running mate, he would be permitted to seek that office and run for an eighth two-year term in the U.S. House.
“In Ohio, you can run for two federal offices at the same time, such as U.S. Senate and vice president or Congress and vice president,” said Joshua Eck, a spokesman for the secretary of state’s office.
Brown has said numerous times that he isn’t interested in running for vice president. If Brown were to run and win, Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, would name his replacement. That person would be a Republican, and that’s an issue as Democrats work this year to recapture the majority in the Senate.
In addition to Ryan and Brown, the Journal article mentioned other possible running mates: U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Tim Kaine of Virginia, as well as U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra of Sacramento, Calif.; Labor Secretary Tom Perez; Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro; and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Several of the names have been discussed before as potential vice-presidential running mates.
The process is in the early stages, the Journal reported.