MOUNT GILEAD — Tim Ryan, Candidate for United States Senate, spoke to Morrow County residents Saturday afternoon about jobs for Ohio workers.
The candidate was hosted by the Rose Heart Inn with about 35 people in attendance. Ryan spoke for an hour about his hope to bring well-paying jobs to Ohio and work on the issues that Ohioans care about.
“As your senator, I will continue to fight to keep jobs in Ohio,” Ryan said.
He added that it is important to invest in job-training programs, expand rural broadband and make sure businesses can grow and succeed.
Ryan grew up in Niles in northeast Ohio. He talked about his family’s working-class jobs in steel mills, the GM plant and Delphi plant.
He spoke about being greatly affected as Niles, Warren and Youngstown struggled as steel mills and other factories closed and jobs were shipped overseas. He emphasized that a stable economy with job opportunities is vitally important for the future of Ohio and the United States.
Ryan wants to make things in Ohio again. He noted that the Intel Company that is planning to come to New Albany will make computer chips. The business will provide thousands of well-paying jobs and bring even more with jobs for their suppliers and companies that will use their technology.
Ryan has pushed for the CHIPS act and congressional action that would encourage semiconductor chip makers to locate in the United States.
He said the Intel deal was possible because congress, state, local government and the Ohio State University worked together to make it happen. He wants to continue to push to bring business like Intel back to Ohio for well-paying jobs.
Big Pharma and drug costs is another area where Ryan believes Democrats and Republicans can work together to let Medicare negotiate to actually reduce drug prices.
Ryan lives in Howland, Ohio with his wife Andrea who is a first grade teacher, and their three children. He is a graduate of Bowling Green State University and University of New Hampshire Law School. Ryan, a Democrat, was first elected in 2002 to the U.S. House of Representatives Ohio 13th District and re-elected 9 times. He is seeking the Senate seat being vacated as Rob Portman retires.
Key issues
Rose Heart Inn owner Scot Long noted Ryan is very focused on issues people care about.
“Ryan is a really nice guy and he gets things done,” Long said.
Ryan also spoke of the importance to crack down on China’s unfair trade practices. He said he was willing to stand up to his own party when they were wrong on trade.
He was glad to see the Infrastructure bill pass in Congress with bipartisan support in November.
“Let’s find the four things we agree on and work on them together,” Ryan said. “Ohioans are practical, pragmatic and smart people.”
Kim Smith asked how he can combat the fear being sold by some candidates.
Ryan answered that it’s important to work on and talk about issues people care about and not take part in culture wars.
“You gotta have a game plan,” Ryan added. “We need to help companies move back, work on infrastructure and work on problems for workers and farmers.”
He visited a dairy farm earlier in the day and was impressed with the hard-working farm family. In his job as a representative, he is working on problems facing farmers and how farms can be passed on within a family.
Morrow County Democratic Chairman Susan Grundy thanked Ryan for his visit to Morrow County.
