COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Three Democrats are vying for a spot on Capitol Hill — and hoping a blue wave will secure the Buckeye State a second Democratic seat in the U.S. Senate.
A 20-year left-of-center Congressman, a progressive Columbus consumer protection attorney, and an information technology executive are competing to represent Ohio in the U.S. Senate, attempting to stand out to Ohio voters during the May 3 primary election.
A University of Akron poll released on March 15 had Tim Ryan with 38.2% of support from respondents, compared with Morgan Harper’s 14%. Traci Johnson is lumped under the “Others” tab – taking 4.1% of the vote along with other candidates. However, 36.9% of respondents remain undecided.
More details about the Ohio Democratic Senate debate held on March 27 can be found here. Here’s a look at who’s running on the Democratic ticket for Ohio’s U.S. Senate seat:
Tim Ryan
Leading the pack with 47% of polling support is Congressman Tim Ryan, 47, of Howland, who was first elected to the U.S. House in 2002 and has represented Ohio’s 13th congressional district since 2013.
Ryan, who launched an unsuccessful bid for president in 2020, secured endorsements for the coveted Senate seat from a slew of high-profile Democratic stakeholders, including Sen. Sherrod Brown and the Ohio Democratic Party.
The former Ohio State Senator is running on a blue-collar platform, hoping to persuade workers across Ohio’s 88 counties that his support for a $15 minimum wage, expansion of union protections, and opposition to what he called “harmful trade policies,” like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), qualifies him as the candidate for the working class.
Ryan called on Ohio to lead the charge in a new industrial age – this time with clean energy industries like wind and solar power and charging stations for electric vehicles, which he called the “industries of the future,” according to his campaign website.
And, in another plea to working-class Americans, Ryan touted his introduction of the “Build America, Buy America” bill in the House to require the use of American-made products in federal infrastructure projects.
As chairperson of the committee that oversees the Capitol Police Department and is investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, Ryan accused former President Donald Trump and his supporters of holding a “dagger at the throat of America.”
While Ryan advocated for streamlining the immigration process and providing a path to citizenship for immigrants already in the U.S., Ryan pledged to adequately fund law enforcement agencies to secure the border and “keep out terrorists and criminals and prevent the spread of fentanyl and other deadly drugs,” his campaign website reads.
He also co-sponsored the Equality Act to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, called for providing two years of tuition-free community college, and advocated for lowering the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 60.
Ryan leads his Democratic candidates when it comes to cash in the bank, with about $12.6 million in total campaign contributions.
For more information about Ryan’s campaign, visit his website.
Morgan Harper
Challenging Ryan from the left is 38-year-old Morgan Harper, a progressive U.S. Senate candidate from Columbus who’s tried to distance herself from “career politicians” like Ryan.
Harper, adopted by an immigrant mother and raised in Columbus, ran and lost with 32% of the vote against incumbent Congresswoman Joyce Beatty in the 2020 campaign to represent Ohio’s 3rd congressional district in the U.S. House.
In a nod to her grassroots-powered and anti-establishment campaign, Harper has refused to accept PAC donations – a stark contrast from both of her…
Read More: Which Democrats are running to represent Ohio in the U.S. Senate?