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Tag: Tim Ryan

  • J.D. Vance and Tim Ryan make final appeal to voters from townhall stage

    J.D. Vance and Tim Ryan make final appeal to voters from townhall stage

    J.D. Vance answering questions on stage at a FOX townhall in Columbus. (photo by Nick Evans)

    BY: NICK EVANS – Ohio Capital Journal

    In a Fox News townhall one week from election day, Ohio’s U.S. Senate candidates tackled questions from the audience and moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum about energy, the border, abortion, the Paul Pelosi attack, and more.

    The event takes the place of the third debate both campaigns have said they wanted but couldn’t ever agree to schedule. The nominees staked out a bit of new ground and clarified some existing positions. But in general, the forum offered a chance for Republican J.D. Vance and Democrat Tim Ryan to make one final broad appeal to voters.

    Tim Ryan

    The townhall format gave each candidate roughly equal time on stage and Ryan got the first crack. The first question came from a Deerfield woman in the audience named Beverley. She pressed Ryan asking him to “look me in the face” and explain how clean energy provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act will reduce inflation.

    In a blunt show of honesty, he told her he couldn’t.

    Ryan argued as he has previously, for addressing short term inflation through a tax cut. But he went on to defend the broader legislation, too. He argued those subsidies are helping encourage private investment in vehicle, battery and solar manufacturing around the state.

    “I want Ohio to be the manufacturing powerhouse of the world,” Ryan argued. “If it’s not us, it’s China. So we have to go all in on these products of the future. But where I think I’m different as a Democrat, I think we go all in on natural gas.”

    Most notably, though, Ryan broke with the state party and offered his support for Issue 1. The measure demands judges consider public safety when setting the dollar amount for bail. They can already consider public safety for other conditions, but the state supreme court earlier this year ruled it’s unconstitutional to jack up cash bail in an effort to keep defendants in jail. State law already allows prosecutors to argue for holding dangerous defendants without the opportunity for bail.

    Familiar rhetoric from Ryan on avoiding “stupid fights” and restoring Roe v. Wade got strong responses. Sparring with the moderators on the latter, Ryan refused to place a hard cut off on performing the procedure when a mother’s life is in danger. Ignoring the state’s six-week abortion ban currently on hold, Martha MacCallum pressed him on why the 22 weeks Ohio women currently have isn’t enough. (Ohio’s six-week abortion ban is temporarily on hold by a Hamilton County judge while a lawsuit against it proceeds.)

    “If there’s a medical problem, you don’t know that until the end,” Ryan argued back. “And here, the point is, this is America. This is a country built on freedom, right? And this is the largest governmental overreach into the private lives of individual citizens in the history of our lifetime.”

    “I thought my friends on the other side were, like, against big government, against invasion into the private lives of people,” he added.

    In addition to his lines on bipartisanship and abortion, Ryan got a good response to the idea of legalizing marijuana. He didn’t get as far with his argument that investing in border security is necessary, but a wall isn’t always practical and is often too easily circumvented.

    Ryan’s biggest negative reaction came to questions about the Jan. 6 insurrection. He acknowledged that his past comments about needing to “confront” and “kill” the MAGA movement were poorly phrased.

    “Kill the movement,” Ryan clarified to Baier. “And maybe that wasn’t a great choice of words. Absolutely confront and absolutely stop the extremist movement happening.”

    But a moment later Ryan faced a chorus of jeers when he described 140 Capitol Police officers getting injured during the insurrection and one of them getting killed.

    “We’ve all seen the tape,” Ryan said.

    J.D. Vance

    Vance took the stage next. And from the boisterous applause as he walked out to the lighter cross examination from the moderators, it’s pretty safe to say he got the friendlier draw.

    To blunt Ryan’s attacks that Vance is an “extremist,” he opened with a couple of olive branches. He offered that Democrats were right to allow Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices.

    “We absolutely have to work together,” Vance said of governing with a Democratic president. “That’s one of the things Tim talks a lot about, working together. But when Republicans win the majority as I think we do, we have to act like we have the majority, we have to do things not just talk about doing things.”

    Vance argued “opening the pipelines and opening up our energy industry” would bring prices down “pretty immediately.” Energy experts meanwhile contend increasing domestic production would have a limited impact when the price of commodities like oil are determined by a global market.

    In terms of immigration, a top issue for Vance, he got a strong response from saying he’d back Arkansas Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton’s RAISE Act. He explained that measure would prioritize immigrants based on skills rather than familial connections.

    “I think the immigration policy in the United States should be about what skills and what attributes do you bring to the table,” he said.

    “You let people into your country based on merit, not on who they know,” he added.

    Vance once again expressed confidence in the integrity of upcoming election and even said he’d support “the guy who wins” even though they’ll disagree on big issues.

    He explicitly condemned the attack of Nancy Pelosi’s husband as “disgusting” after Ryan suggested he’d been silent on it. Vance pushed back that he’d condemned it from the outset and that “the effort to turn this into a political issue is actually a real problem here.” In the next breath he went on to argue the attacker is an illegal alien.

    “My view very simply is that we need to deport violent illegal aliens, ok?” he said.

    He argued the attack — by a man claiming Nancy Pelosi is the “leader of the pack of lies told by the Democratic Party”— is not reflective of Republicans. It’s reflective of people living in the country illegally.

    Asked directly whether he ban abortion in Ohio and nationally, Vance said, “Look, I’m pro-life, I am pro-life.”

    He went to argue 90% of abortion policy should be set at the state level. But he explained his support for a “minimum national standard” that would ensure we’re not “aborting babies who can feel pain who are fully formed.”

    Vance has expressed support for South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham’s 15 week federal abortion ban. Describing the provision as a minimum standard though is misleading. It would limit any state from allowing abortion after 15 weeks, but states would be allowed to set more stringent restrictions.

    Vance’s claims that a fetus is “fully formed” or can “feel pain” are similarly dubious. Fetal viability is generally considered to be about 23 or 24 weeks. An American Medical Association policy brief contends “the preponderance of evidence” shows even a 20-week fetus is unable to feel pain, and cites a study putting that benchmark closer to 29 or 30 weeks.

    Follow OCJ Reporter Nick Evans on Twitter.

  • Ohio’s U.S. Senate nominees clash in final debate

    Ohio’s U.S. Senate nominees clash in final debate

    Ohio U.S. Senate Democratic candidate Tim Ryan, left, and Republican candidate J.D. Vance, right. Screenshot courtesy of WFMJ broadcast of debate in Youngstown on Oct. 17, 2022.

    BY: NICK EVANS – Ohio Capital Journal

    Ohio’s U.S. Senate nominees met Monday in a contentious, final debate of the campaign.

    Polling has continued to show a dead heat within margins of error between Democratic candidate Tim Ryan and Republican candidate J.D. Vance, who are looking to replace outgoing Ohio U.S. Sen. Rob Portman.

    Outside Youngstown’s Stambaugh Auditorium, a 1920’s marble-columned behemoth, two groups of supporters waved signs and chanted slogans for their favored candidate. Inside, it was less rowdy. Attendance was limited to members of the media.

    Mining for disagreements

    The fireworks started early after a pair of questions delving into the nominees’ perceived subservience to their party’s leaders. Former Vindicator columnist Bertram de Souza brought up Donald Trump’s quip at a local rally that “J.D. is kissing my ass.” He pressed Vance to describe some point of disagreement with the former president.

    Vance pointed to figures in the Trump administration like John Bolton who lobbied for “limitless non-stop wars,” but quickly shifted to dismiss Trump’s comment.

    “Donald Trump told a joke,” Vance said. “He told a joke at a rally based on a false New York Times story.”

    That article suggested Vance and other candidates may not be enthusiastic about Trump visiting their states. Vance then turned the charge on Ryan, arguing he’s beholden to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer.

    “The guy who’s subservient to the national party is Tim Ryan,” Vance argued, “who has been begging for these guys to come into this race and save him from the campaign that he’s been running.”

    De Souza asked Ryan to describe an issue where he disagreed with Speaker Pelosi, and Ryan brought up his bid challenging her as House Speaker.

    “You have to have the courage to take on your own leaders,” he said. Turning to Vance he added, “these leaders in D.C., they’ll eat you up like a chew toy.”

    “Mitch McConnell gave you $40 million dollars to prop up your campaign. Peter Thiel gave you $15 million. That’s $55 million, J.D. What do you think they want for that?” Ryan asked. “They want your loyalty, and you proved that you’ll kiss their ass, too.”

    Replacement Theory

    The night closed on an acrimonious note as well.  De Souza pressed Vance about his embrace of replacement theory, which contends that white citizens are being systematically replaced by non-white immigrants. The National Immigration Forum explains adherents believe there is a “plot designed to undermine or ‘replace’ the political power and culture of white people living in western countries.”

    On stage, Vance offered a toned down version of the idea. He argued “Democratic leadership… say they want more and more immigration because if that happens they’ll ensure that Republicans are never able to win a national election.”

    Vance added that his wife’s family immigrated to the country, but stressed that they came legally.

    Ryan meanwhile cut right to the racism at the heart of replacement theory. He said the theory was the “primary motivator” of a mass shooting in May at a predominately Black grocery store in Buffalo.

    “Some sicko got this information that he’s peddling,” Ryan said. “Again, those extremists that he runs around with, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ted Cruz, all these guys that want to stoke this racial violence.”

    “We’re tired of it, J.D.” he said. “This kid goes to a grocery store in Buffalo where Black people shop and shoots them up. No. We want to move on from that.”

    Ryan had struck a nerve, both said. He called Ryan disgusting, disgraceful, and shameful at different points.

    “I’ll tell you exactly what happens, Tim,” he said. “What happens is that my own children, my biracial children get attacked by scumbags online and in person because you are so desperate for political power that you’ll accuse me, the father of three beautiful biracial babies, of racism.”

    “We’re sick of it,” Vance said. “You can believe in a border without being racist and you can believe in the country without being a racist, and this just shows how desperate this guy is for political power.”

    Later this week Vance campaigns around the state with Sens. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Tim Ryan will be crisscrossing the state in the coming week but without any surrogates alongside.

    Asked after the debate if he was concerned about his lack of support from national Democrats when Vance has had numerous visit and an influx of campaign cash, Ryan brushed it off.

    “We don’t need them, we’re going to win without them,” he said.

    Follow OCJ Reporter Nick Evans on Twitter.

  • A weekend of protests in Columbus following Dobbs decision

    A weekend of protests in Columbus following Dobbs decision

    Protesters gathered at the statehouse to voice opposition to the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. (photo by Nick Evans)

    BY: NICK EVANS – Ohio Capital Journal

    Over the weekend protesters rallied in demonstrations large and small voicing their opposition to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

    The Attorney General

    Saturday afternoon a couple dozen people gathered near the end of a sleepy street in Beechwold. Demonstrators brought bullhorns, pots and pans, even a vuvuzela, and organizers handed out pamphlets describing what areas are and aren’t public property. Then they marched up a narrow side street to Attorney General Dave Yost’s home.

     Protesters demonstrating outside the home of Attorney General Dave Yost. (Photo by Nick Evans, OCJ.)

    “After his workday, he comes home, kicks his feet up, has real nice evening,” organizer Mandy Shunnarah-Reed told the group before they set out. “Meanwhile, the rest of us have to live with the consequences of the decisions he’s made about our bodies and our livelihoods, 24-7, 365. We don’t get to just not worry about it, because it’s not business hours.”

    “So that is why we are annoying him on a Saturday,” she said.

    The group grew to about 50 and they made a racket of chants, whistles and smashing cookware at the foot of Yost’s driveway while a security agent from the AG’s office looked on. The cacophony was short lived though — after about twenty minutes they learned Yost wasn’t home.

    Some Ohioans employed similar tactics to voice opposition to COVID-19 restrictions and to intimidate then-health director Amy Acton early in the pandemic. But Katie McKeel and her husband John were quick to draw a distinction.

    Katie carried a sign that read “my body, my rights, my vote, my voice will be heard in 2022.” But the “22” was taped on. She first made the sign in 2018 for the women’s march in Washington D.C.

    “If my right to my choice and my self-autonomy and what I do with my own body is not as important as the airspace of our elected officials, I find that to be completely out of whack,” Katie said.

    “We haven’t threatened Dave Yost. Amy Acton got death threats,” John chimed in. “That’s a big difference.”

    Christy Williams came to the protest with her daughter, and she argued that banning abortions won’t reduce the number that occur, it will just make them more dangerous. Like the McKeels, she believed their right to protest should take precedence.

    “This is a civil right,” she said. “You can do this.”

    The Statehouse

    Sunday morning thousands of people turned up at the Statehouse for a rally put on by the Ohio Democratic Party. Notably, although not surprisingly, many of the groups spanned generations. Mothers with daughters and even granddaughters showed up together waving handmade signs. Picking up on that, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown noted up he was there with his wife, his daughters and grandkids. Brown told the crowd “we need a plan,” and argued for electing two new Democratic U.S. Senators and maintaining the Democratic majority in the House.

    “If we can carry out this plan, by this time next year the Senate and the House of Representatives will have codified Roe v. Wade,” Brown argued.

    The problem is, picking up Senate seats while keeping the House is a pretty tall order for a midterm election amid persistent inflation. The court’s decision to overturn Roe surely changes the political calculus, but it’s unclear how much.

    The other issue, as people like Nina Turner have pointed out, is that Democrats already have control of all the levers of power they need to codify abortion protections — they simply haven’t acted because some Democratic senators oppose ending the filibuster.

    Speaking afterward, Brown acknowledged some members of his caucus are “not in the right place” when it comes to the filibuster, but he insisted with two new members the party would act.

    “If we have two more Democrats, we will change the filibuster rules, so that a majority can speak,” Brown said. “All we’re asking for is majority rule.”

    One candidate looking to flip a Senate seat in Brown’s plan spoke to the crowd as well. Ohio Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Tim Ryan described the whiplash of marching to the Supreme Court building on Friday to protest with his 18-year-old daughter, in D.C. for an internship, alongside fellow congresswomen who were part of the fight that led to Roe in the first place.

    “This is a struggle,” Ryan said. “This is a struggle for this election, and the next election, and the next election in the decades to come because we’re gonna turn this around, and we’re gonna make sure that this never happens again.”

     Tim Ryan addressing the crowd outside the statehouse. (Photo by Nick Evans, OCJ.)

    Ryan acknowledged afterward that some voters might feel pessimistic in light of Democrats’ unwillingness to roll back the filibuster and take action to protect abortion access at the federal level. But he urged them not to check out.

    “So I would say you have a chance now,” Ryan said. “We are where we are. You have a chance to actually make that difference right here in Ohio.”

    While Ryan and Brown made the case for federal action, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Nan Whaley made a more immediate, explicit argument.

    “Ohio is ground zero for this fight,” Whaley insisted. “We are one of the largest states in the country where abortion is on the ballot.

    Whaley called Gov. Mike DeWine the “most anti-choice governor in the country” and chastised him for urging people to be civil in the wake of the decision. What’s civil about taking away rights, forcing women to maintain a pregnancy or risk dying on an operating table she asked.

    Like Brown and Ryan she drew a bright line from the court decision to the ballot box.

    “This is not a drill. This is not a hypothetical,” Whaley told the crowd. “Our lives and our children’s lives are on the line. I refuse to go back and I know I am not alone.”

  • SEN. BROWN, REPS. RYAN, KAPTUR, BROWN, BEATTY NOTIFY FEDERAL AGENCIES OF OHIO’S READINESS TO ACCEPT UKRAINIAN REFUGEES

    SEN. BROWN, REPS. RYAN, KAPTUR, BROWN, BEATTY NOTIFY FEDERAL AGENCIES OF OHIO’S READINESS TO ACCEPT UKRAINIAN REFUGEES

    Photo by Mathias P.R. Reding

    “Ukrainian-American Community Has Deep Roots in Ohio“

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and U.S. Representatives Tim Ryan (D-OH-13), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-9), Shontel Brown (D-OH-11), and Joyce Beatty (D-OH-3) sent a letter to the U.S. Departments of State, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, notifying them of Ohio’s readiness to accept Ukrainian refugees fleeing Vladimir Putin’s brutal attack on their country.

    “We write in support of the Administration’s recent announcement to welcome to the United States as many as 100,000 Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russian aggression and provide additional funding towards humanitarian assistance to people affected by Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine. We stand ready to work with you and Governor DeWine to welcome Ukrainian refugees to Ohio, which is already home to a large community of Ukrainian-Americans,” wrote the lawmakers.

    In the recently passed government spending package, the lawmakers helped secure more than $4 billion to address the dire humanitarian needs of the hundreds of thousands of refugees who have fled Ukraine or have been displaced within Ukraine.

    • $2.65 billion through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)’s International Disaster Assistance program to provide emergency food assistance, health care, and other urgent support.
    • $1.4 billion for Migration and Refugee Assistance to support refugees fleeing Ukraine.

    Full copy of the letter:

    Dear Secretary Blinken, Secretary Mayorkas, Secretary Becerra, and Director Jaddou:

    We write in support of the Administration’s recent announcement to welcome to the United States as many as 100,000 Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russian aggression and provide additional funding towards humanitarian assistance to people affected by Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine. We stand ready to work with you and Governor DeWine to welcome Ukrainian refugees to Ohio, which is already home to a large community of Ukrainian-Americans.

    As evidenced by the state’s recent efforts to welcome more than 1,000 refugees who fled from Afghanistan in 2021, Ohio has a long history of welcoming people fleeing war, famine, and genocide. In addition, Ohio’s Ukrainian community has deep roots dating back to the 1880s, when many Ukrainians began settling in the greater Cleveland area seeking better economic opportunities. Subsequent waves of migration caused by World War I, World War II, and Soviet rule saw more Ukrainians come to Northeast Ohio, this time seeking freedom and opportunity. In fact, Northeast Ohio is home to one of the largest Ukrainian populations in the country, home to approximately 50,000 Ohioans with Ukrainian ancestry.

    These roots have remained strong as local Ukrainian-Americans have taken leadership positions in religious, political, and community organizations. From organizing labor unions within their community, to helping to raise funds to open the first Ukrainian Embassy, Ukrainian-Americans in Northeast Ohio take an active role in ensuring the entire region can flourish. Several Cleveland-area Ukrainian community representatives were recognized by Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton for their efforts in support of the first Ukrainian Embassy. This history makes Ohio well suited to welcome some of the 100,000 refugees fleeing combat zones, and will help increase opportunities for successful family reunification.

    Ohio is already preparing to welcome people affected by the war with housing, jobs, and a convivial community. Since the start of the conflict, Ohio has been a leader uniting Ohio’s refugee and resettlement organizations to better assist Ukrainians and prepare the region to welcome refugees. Ohio has worked together with nonprofits like Global Cleveland and US Together to collect medical supplies to send to Ukraine while connecting Ukrainians with medical help and safe passage out of Ukraine, and connecting families separated by Vladimir Putin’s illegal war. Other local partners have also contributed to the cause, with the Cleveland Clinic organizing and shipping medical supplies to Ukraine so doctors can treat their wounded.

    We thank you for your efforts to help the people of Ukraine, including the more than $1 billion in humanitarian assistance for those affected by Russia’s unprovoked war. This aid will have a direct impact on the people of Ukraine and our European allies that have accepted those seeking refuge. Unfortunately, there is not yet an end in sight to this horrific war and we urge you to be ready to offer more humanitarian assistance – including a willingness to accept additional refugees – as this conflict continues.

    Ohioans are generous people and are willing to aid the people of Ukraine.  We encourage you to think of Ohio as you work on resettling Ukrainians and others displaced by this tragic war of Russia’s choosing, we stand ready to assist in your efforts to reunite families and welcome Ukrainian refugees to Ohio.

    Thank you for your continued dedication to this critical priority.