Congressman Tim Ryan Drops Out Of 2020 Presidential Race

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) suspended his presidential campaign on Thursday, further winnowing the pool of Democratic candidates ahead of the party primary.

Ryan made the announcement on Twitter:

Ryan was among a group of candidates who did not qualify for the Democratic debate on Oct. 15. Ryan also didn’t make the cut for the September debate.

A moderate Democrat, Ryan ran a campaign largely centered on his Midwestern bona fides, which he believed gave him insight into the plight of Americans living in the Rust Belt.

“As a congressman from Youngstown, Ohio for almost 20 years, I’ve watched the American Dream slip through the fingers of many Americans,” Ryan wrote when he launched his campaign in April.

He frequently cited President Donald Trump ’s broken promises to revive faltering industries in the Midwest as the reason for his candidacy. Ryan’s campaign was unapologetic in its appeals to blue-collar workers, and Ryan touted his ability to speak to the working class.

In a June interview with USA Today’s Editorial Board , the congressman said Democrats need a candidate “who can go speak to the working-class people in those areas: white, black, brown, gay, straight — people who, you know, take a shower after work.”

But the congressman never managed to cobble together a viable constituency within the Democratic electorate. He consistently polled in the low single digits and failed to set himself apart from a pool of candidates large enough to spill across two nights of debates.

Ryan drew attention in 2016 when he waged a challenge against Nancy Pelosi for the position of Democratic leader in the House of Representatives. The congressman reportedly considered a run for the speakership in 2018 as well, but he ultimately voted for Pelosi after she backed a rules change implementing term limits for House Democratic leaders.