Tim Ryan says he’s ‘looking seriously’ at running for Portman’s Senate seat

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) said he is “looking seriously” at running for Senate in 2022 after Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) announced his retirement earlier Monday.

“I’m overwhelmed by supporters who are reaching out to encourage me to run for Senate. I haven’t made a decision yet but I’m looking seriously at it,” Ryan tweeted Monday. “Ohio deserves leaders who fight for working people. #OHSen.”

I’m overwhelmed by supporters who are reaching out to encourage me to run for Senate. I haven’t made a decision yet but I’m looking seriously at it. Ohio deserves leaders who fight for working people. #OHSen https://t.co/FzRIn9bHfw

— Tim Ryan (@TimRyan) January 25, 2021

Ryan briefly ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2019, presenting himself as a moderate capable of winning over Trump supporters in contrast to progressive figures such as Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Ohio was one of a handful of states former Presidents Trump and Obama both won twice.

Unlike Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, which clinched President Biden’s 2020 victory after Trump won them in 2016, Ohio has continued trending conservative, with Gov. Mike DeWine (R) elected in 2018 and the state voting about 10 points to the right of the nation overall in 2020.

Portman announced in Cincinnati on Monday morning that he would not seek a third Senate term next year, citing what he called a climate of political polarization.

“We live in an increasingly polarized country where members of both parties are being pushed further to the right and further to the left, and that means too few people who are actively looking to find common ground,” Portman said. “This is not a new phenomenon, of course, but a problem that has gotten worse over the past few decades.”