From Roll Call:
Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) will announce a bid for lieutenant governor later this week, according to the Washington Post.
Ryan would run alongside Gov. Ted Strickland (D) to succeed Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher (D), who is running for Senate in 2010. Ryan, a four-term Democrat, also considered running to replace retiring Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), but he decided against it and has backed Fisher’s bid.
While Ryan’s name has been batted around as one of Strickland’s top choices for his running mate, this still strikes me as a surprising move. If Ryan had any ambitions for House leadership, I guess he has decided to shelve them and set himself up as the likely nominee to replace Strickland once he faces mandatory retirement in 2014 (assuming Strickland is successful in his re-election campaign).
Unfortunately for us, this could very well mean that Capri Cafaro will be first in line to replace Ryan in the House. Yuck.
Calling all Swingnuts: Roll Call references a Washington Post article in their coverage of this news, but we can’t seem to track it down. If anyone spots the original article online, please post a link in the comments. Thanks! (UPDATE: Found it.)
Setting up Ryan to be Strickland’s successor is a good thing since he apparently has no interest in the Senate. Hopefully Cafaro doesn’t get the nomination. Is she really all that popular in the district anyway?
If I were ever crazy enough to be inclined to run for office at this level, I would be so much more interested in being a Governor than a Senator — there are so many more opportunities to actually get things done and solve problems. And Ryan is only in his mid/late 30s — he can still do all of these things in his career.
and ryan will be a heavyweight in 2014. A young photogenic, articulate Governor of Ohio is every political mad doctor’s dream for a presidential candidate. Ryan/Herseth-Sandlin 2020!
Im confused as the quote makes it sound both ways, is the Lt Gov a separate elected position in OH or would Ryan be on the ballot with Strickland?
I like this move for Ryan. He clearly doesnt want to be stuck in the House for 50-60 years trying to build up seniority so that he can at least chair a committee if he never gets voted into leadership.
He can be Lt Gov, Gov, and then Senator when Brown retires, probably what he figures. Then, he wont just be in the House this whole time, he’ll have the best platform to run for Senate later on, as a former Gov.
In searching for this news, per James’ request, I came across two blogs (one referencing the other) which noted that this was likely a few weeks ago. In the comments a lot of people mentioned that the current AG was seemingly the heir apparent to run for governor in 2014.
Can anyone with more knowledge knowledge about Ohio politics shed some light on this? These blogs seemed to be conservative in their nature, so I’m taking the comments with a grain of salt.
Blogs here:
http://kylesisk.typepad.com/si…
and
http://keelerreport.blogspot.c…
Cafaro v. Traficant v. Dann!!!
The Governor makes the final pick for Lt. Governor (I don’t believe it’s like the Wisconsin system where the LG has to be nominated at the state convention). This is more or less a way for Ryan to start building support for Strickland in his re-election bid. It also gives plenty of time for candidates to mount their bids, thereby allowing candidates that don’t have the name ID or money like Cafaro to make a serious run.
I like this move quite a bit. Ryan is a rising star in the party, and he would have gone to waste had he stayed in the House. Anyone else noticing a trend of young House members in both parties (Ryan, Kendrick Meek, Adam Putnam) leaving the House to go for the greener pastures of statewide office?
The House to Lt. Gov is a step down. I know it puts him in line for Governor in 2014, but Ryan could make the run from the House as well.
So who do we have to stop the crazy lady?
Haven’t seen anyone bitch about how Ryan is pro-life, and therefore unacceptable as a candidate. Usually you’d have someone mention that by now and make a big fuss over it.
BTW, I thought this was funny. From the comments in that link to the Cafaro diary, from March 18, 2006:
Ohio is, in reality, a knife edge “purple” state. Voters (as opposed to bloggers) here are kitchen table Democrats (econ issues) but drift rightward on social issues and are susceptible to crafty framing on wedge issues. The world had to endure the last four years of hell because 118,000 Ohio voters put The Shrub back in office for two reasons. One was Tom Noe’s ill gotten booty (and it WAS MUCH more than what has been revealed) that he pumped into the GOP here and because they came out to vote for The Hate Amendment.
The Ohio House in the General Assembly is barely in Dem control but the Senate is an absolute disaster on every level and completely hopeless. We currently control the STATE redistricting board by one vote. If we lose either AG or SoS, (or the Ohio House) control would flip.
Richard Cordray would have been my choice for the US Senate but he agreed to Ted’s request to move into the state AG spot to replace the disgraced Marc Dann. (Thus eliminating one strong contender for the US Senate) Good move in terms of better government. He’ll do a great job.
And since Ted is all in for Lee Fisher, one less obstacle.
Ryan was the other obstacle. So, Ted offers him the title of governor heir apparent. (Which is, in fact. all this announcement really means.) Ryan (and Ted) are taking the very long view.
Ryan’s current US House is District is one of four obscenely gerrymandered Dem “quarantine” districts that the GOP created at nearly 70% (or more!) Democratic turnout. This was to confine Dem voters to as few districts as possible in order to create as many GOP majority Districts as they could.
The strongly Dem districts are held by Marcy Kaptur, Dennis the Menace, Ryan and Marcia Fudge (formerly held by the late Tubbs-Jones) The latter district is the only one that will survive as such an overwhelmingly Dem district –on the grounds of minority representation.
Ohio will lose two House seats after the current census. Marcy, Dennis and Ryan’s districts will all have to lose some measure of Democratic majority in order to create more Dem majority districts, which cannot be done with these three districts running far too Democratic.
Which is what makes the specter of a Cafaro candidacy so nauseating. If that District becomes even vaguely competitive, she’ll blow it.
Note above that OH-14 is one of the most closely divided US House Districts to be represented by a Goper. (BTW, I say: “blow that sucker right off of the map!”)
So here’s the plan: We control the Ohio redistricting process and threaten the GOP with… well… exactly what they did to us. And THAT is our leverage when, during US reapportionment, the Ohio House produces a Dem majority map and the Ohio Senate produces another one of their obscenities.
So had it not been for Judge Brunner’s decision to run for the US Senate, Ted had his plan all worked out. But now, if we lose control of Ohio SoS, the wheels completely come off. That’s why there is already a big hubub over who will run for SoS. Now the buzz is for Franklin County Commissioner Marilyn Brown. (Judge Brunner is supporting her, but I bet Ted was consulted.)
But if you look at the big picture, you can see why people are making these kinds of announcements which seem so far removed from when anything will actually happen.
OK, I’m going back to the real world now…