TIM RYAN Timeline

TIM RYAN Timeline

September 1995: Ryan starts working as a staff assistant for then-U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., D-17th, and stays in that job until August 1997. Before that, he was an intern for Traficant.

August 1999: Ryan officially announces his candidacy for the Democratic nomination to the 32nd Ohio Senate District seat. At the time, Ryan is an intern in the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s office and president of the Trumbull County Young Democrats.

March 2000: Ryan pulls an upset, winning a five-person Democratic primary for the state Senate seat. He goes on to beat Republican Randy Law in the November general election.

May 2002: With Traficant convicted a month earlier on 10 felony counts, his congressional district is redrawn to include one represented by Democrat Thomas Sawyer, an eight-term incumbent. Ryan gets in the race and wins the primary. Ryan, at age 29, goes on to defeat Republican Ann Womer Benjamin and Traficant in the November general election.

November 2004: Ryan is easily re-elected to a second two-year term.

January 2007: Ryan, after winning a third term, is appointed to the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

November 2010: Ryan wins a fifth term with 54 percent of the vote, his lowest amount since his 2002 initial run. While he beats Republican Jim Graham by about 24 percentage points, Traficant runs as an independent and garners 16 percent of the vote, bringing Ryan’s percentage down. Also, the Democrats lose control of the House, forcing Ryan off the Appropriations Committee in January 2011 as he is one of the least senior members. He returns to the committee in January 2013.

July 2016: Ryan gets a coveted spot speaking about 8 p.m. on the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

November 2016: Ryan unsuccessfully challenges Nancy Pelosi for House minority leader, losing 134 to 63.

February 2017: Ryan decides not to run for governor in 2018.

November 2018: Ryan wins his ninth two-year term to Congress, defeating Republican Christopher DePizzo. In January 2019, Ryan is selected to serve as chairman of the Appropriations Committee’s Legislative Branch Subcommittee and remains a member of the committee’s Defense Subcommittee, and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Subcommittee.

April 2019: Ryan announces he is going to seek the Democratic nomination for president in the 2020 election.

Source: Vindicator files