Ryan releases 10 years of tax returns

By DAVID SKOLNICK

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan said he sees the benefits of having former Vice President Joe Biden competing against him for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

“What it’s brought to the forefront is that Democrats want someone who can take on [Republican President Donald] Trump and win those states back,” said Ryan, referring to Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Ryan of Howland, D-13th, said he is compared to Biden in terms of appealing to Midwest blue-collar workers.

“People say, ‘You and Joe are the same guy,’” Ryan said. “We go for the same voters and have the same appeal. To be identified with him is a good thing.”

Most polls show Biden leading the Democratic field. Biden announced his bid last Thursday and campaigned Monday in Pittsburgh.

Ryan is polling at 1 percent or 2 percent, but he – along with Biden and 14 other Democrats – qualified for the first two presidential primary debates, the first in Miami on June 26 and 27, and the second in Detroit on July 30 and 31. Both will be two debates of 10 candidates each, with the lineups chosen at random.

To qualify, a candidate needs to either have at least 1 percent support in three qualifying polls, or have at least 65,000 unique donors with a minimum of 200 different donors in at least 20 states.

If more than 20 candidates reach one of those two qualifications, the top 20 would be selected by a method that rewards candidates for meeting both thresholds, followed by highest polling average and then the most unique donors.

Ryan reached 1 percent in Monmouth University’s poll of Iowa Democrats on April 11, hit 2 percent in the University of New Hampshire’s April 22 poll of that state’s Democrats, and went over the top last Wednesday with 1 percent in a national Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Ryan said historically it’s not the candidate who’s winning in April of the year before the presidential race who captures the nomination.

“We’re off to a good start and we keep building,” Ryan said Monday. “We’re still going to work with donors. I clearly don’t have the advantages of people from New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston. But I have the attention of people. I’m from the Midwest and can rebuild the ‘blue wall.’ We’re getting a lot of media attention.”

Ryan said he’s received contributions from people from all 50 states, but declined to say how many unique donors he has.

Ryan said his campaign is talking to CNN and Fox News about nationally televised town halls.

He’ll speak Thursday at the Erie County [Pa.] Democratic Party’s spring dinner and Saturday in Grand Rapids, Mich., at the Kent County Democratic Party’s spring gala.

Also Monday, Ryan’s campaign released 10 years of his tax returns.

The campaign wrote in an email: “Full and complete transparency with the American people is paramount to Congressman Tim Ryan. He understands that unity is built on trust earned with honesty and respect. ”

The returns are from 2009 to 2018.

In 2018, Ryan of Howland, D-13th, and his wife, Andrea, a Weathersfield school teacher, reported $221,004 in total income. Nearly all of it came from Ryan’s congressional salary of $165,660 and his wife’s teacher salary of $53,503. The two paid $40,985 in federal taxes last year. The Ryans took the standard $24,000 deduction for married filed jointly.

In 2017, the two reported $219,120 in total income. Again, nearly all of it came from his congressional salary of $165,405 and her teaching salary of $50,341. They paid $46,426 in federal taxes and itemized that year showing $1,500 in gifts to charity.

In 2009, before Ryan was married, he filed $156,384 in total income with $155,438 of it from his congressional salary. He paid $29,046 in federal taxes that year and made $2,667 in gifts to charity.

In 2010, his total income was $159,605. It was $159,806 in 2011. It was $176,824 in 2012 with $17,170 coming from money he made writing his first book, “A Mindful Nation.”

His return in 2013 was the first year he filed with his wife with a total income of $206,344. The 2014 return’s total income amount was $209,112. It was $217,752 in 2015 with $12,834 in royalties from his second book, “The Real Food Revolution.”

In 2016, the Ryans’ total income amount was only $177,199 because they took a $35,478 loss from a “deductible rental real estate loss.”