U.S. Senate candidate Tim Ryan treads familiar ground for his campaign: ending what he has called “stupid fights” in campaign ads and promoting working across the aisle.
He also stressed the dangers of political extremism, particularly Republican candidates who have denied the legitimacy of the 2020 Presidential Election.
“We’ve got to come together,” Ryan said on Wednesday. “We’ve got to be Americans. We can’t keep going on like this.
What was most important to Ryan was creating and keeping jobs and growing the economy in Ohio. He pointed to recent economic triumphs for the state – the new Intel semiconductor manufacturing plant near Columbus and the upcoming Honda electric vehicle battery plant, for example.
Ryan believes that these developments were wonderful for the state, and the focus needs to be fostering these opportunities for Ohioans.
“Our focus has got to be bringing these good jobs back or growing them here in Dayton, here in southwest Ohio, here in the Miami Valley. So that the workers will have time to participate in healing and building the civic life of our community,” he said.
Ryan also talked of the need to invest money into our cities and infrastructure. Having good jobs is one thing, he said, but you have to make sure your workers want to live there, first.
“As we rebuild our downtowns in conjunction with the technology and the jobs of the future, young kids are going to want to come back here and they’re going to want to build a life here,” Ryan said.
While he didn’t talk about specific policies, Ryan said he wants to export natural gas from Ohio abroad to lower carbon emissions worldwide. Then, he would like to focus on cleaner forms of energy, such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric.
WYSO News reached out to Ryan’s Republican opponent, J.D. Vance, and his team for a comment. Luke Schroeder, a spokesman for the Vance campaign, replied in an email:
"[Tim] Ryan pretends to be a moderate in his slick TV ads, but his voting record throughout his 20 year career in Washington, DC proves he's an unabashed liberal. Ryan can try to deceive Ohioans all he wants, but he can't escape the fact that he votes with Biden and Pelosi 100% of the time. Ryan has repeatedly called for policies that are far outside of the Ohio mainstream, including a ban on gas-powered cars and a nationwide end to cash bail, and Ryan voted for trillions of dollars in reckless spending that triggered the inflation crisis Ohioans are suffering through. J.D. will fight for policies that create as many jobs as possible in Ohio, including unleashing American energy, holding China accountable for unfair trade practices, and fighting to bring supply chains back home through measures like the CHIPS bill, which JD supports."
Vance will speak to the Chamber on October 31. WYSO will be there to cover the Republican’s visit. The forum was hosted at the CareSource Pamela Morris Center.
