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Mr Ryan is from Niles, Ohio, just north of Youngstown, an area filled with voters who are actually Trump Democrats, many of whom are union members or retirees. He outperformed Mr. Biden in his district, but Democrats suffered a string of losses in other top-down ballot races.
The question, if Mr. Ryan becomes his party’s candidate, is whether he can win back those predominantly white voters.
Mr Ryan has long considered running statewide, but in the past he has opted for re-election to the House seat which he first won in 2002, when he succeeded the famous fiery and corrupt James Traficant.
Mr Ryan launched a long-running bid for the presidency in 2019 with the same message he expects to send to the Senate – that Democrats will only build lasting majorities if they win back the support of a coalition of multiracial working class voters.
Beyond elevating that argument, Mr. Ryan, 47, has another compelling reason to run for the Senate: As Republicans get stronger in eastern Ohio, his district has grown from increasingly competitive and the Republican Party could redesign districts of the state to make it even more banned in 2022.
Despite rising to the Appropriations Committee, Mr Ryan has for the most part given up his hopes of joining the House leadership, having been turned around in his 2016 challenge against Nancy Pelosi, then minority leader.
In Congress, Mr. Ryan has been a close ally of the unions and has generally adhered to the Democratic line, evolving towards a position in favor of abortion rights in recent years. Even before officially announcing his candidacy, Ryan garnered support from the national chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which released a letter on Monday approving his undeclared candidacy.
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