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Rep. Tim Ryan considers a run for House minority leader
YOUNGSTOWN
While he considers Nancy Pelosi a “mentor,” U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan is considering a challenge to the minority leader.
With Pelosi already lining up strong support for her re-election and a vote scheduled for Thursday, Ryan’s challenge is a long shot, if he opts to seek the appointment from House Democrats.
“He is considering it,” said Michael Zetts, Ryan’s spokesman. “He’s not closing the door to it just yet. He’s open to the idea. It’s an evolving thing.”
Ryan began receiving calls late last week from fellow House Democrats urging him to challenge for the position even though “he’s never had the ambition to run for leader,” Zetts said. “But after [last week’s] defeat, he’s considering it.”
Efforts by The Vindicator to get comments from Ryan on a potential bid for leader went unanswered.
A group of about 30 House Democrats signed a letter addressed to Pelosi asking for a delay in the vote until after Thanksgiving, and Ryan of Howland, D-13th, was among them. But Ryan took his name off the letter because he didn’t want it to look like the others were backing him and that he was using it to line up support for the job, Zetts said.
Ryan wrote a separate letter late Sunday to Pelosi calling for a delay, Zetts said.
“He believes we should take a moment to reflect on the election and future of the Democratic caucus,” Zetts said of Ryan.
Pelosi has shown no willingness to delay the vote.
Ryan, who was first elected to Congress in 2002, was seated on the powerful House Appropriations Committee after his 2006 re-election by Pelosi because of his loyalty to her and his campaigning efforts on behalf of fellow Democrats in a year when the party took control of the U.S. House. Democrats lost control of the House four years later and Republicans have had the majority ever since. With Republicans in control, Ryan lost his seat on Appropriations in the 2010 election, but he was returned to the committee after the 2012 election and remains a member.
A prominent Ohio surrogate for Hillary Clinton, the failed Democratic presidential nominee, Ryan said before the election that he was definitely interested in serving in her administration should she win. There apparently was interest from the Clinton campaign in having Ryan join the administration, but that was rendered moot when Clinton lost to Republican Donald Trump.
Ryan has been mentioned as a potential 2018 gubernatorial candidate. He’s considered and eventually rejected bids to run for governor and the U.S. Senate in the past.