Ohio Senate candidates J.D. Vance (R) and Rep. Tim Ryan (D) clashed on topics ranging from abortion to foreign policy during their first debate in Cleveland on Monday, with the two engaging in heated exchanges as they look to sway voters ahead of November’s election.
Recent polls have indicated the race to succeed retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R) is neck-and-neck in the state that has trended red in recent years. The Buckeye State is expected to play a key role in which party holds the majority next Congress, with GOP outside groups heavily spending to give Vance, a venture capitalist and the author of Hillbilly Elegy, a boost in the final stretch as Ryan has closed the gap in the polls.
Here are five key takeaways from the first of their two scheduled debates:
Ryan looked to put distance between himself and party leaders
Both candidates attempted to appeal to swing voters while painting their respective opponents as extremists.
Ryan repeatedly looked to distance himself from President Joe Biden and part, asserting that he has bucked party lines in the past and reiterating his calls for new leadership. He simultaneously attempted to tie Vance to former President Donald Trump and controversial Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
The Ohio Democrat said he disagreed with Vice President Kamala Harris’s remarks that the border is secure, stating that “Kamala Harris is absolutely wrong on that” and feels the party needs to do more to address the problem.
In one of the debate’s memorable lines, Ryan alluded to Trump’s remarks at a recent rally stating that Vance, a former Trump critic, is “in love” with him and “kissing my ass” for support.
“The reality of it is I have been a big pain in the rear end to Nancy Pelosi, and if Chuck Schumer is the leader, I will be a pain in the rear end to him too. I’m for Ohio — I don’t kiss anyone’s ass like him. Ohio needs an ass-kicker, not an ass-kisser,” Ryan said.
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Vance shot back, claiming that Ryan has voted with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 100% of the time.
Abortion remains a heated topic as Election Day nears
The candidates sparred over abortion policy following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which has become a key issue in swing states.
Ryan slammed Vance over his stance on abortion, alleging that his position is extreme and blasting him for his previous remarks suggesting rape is “inconvenient.”
“That was established law for 50 years, and we then have all the chaos that we’re having now — we read at least a couple articles every week of young people, underage girls who have been raped, or women who have had significant problems with their pregnancy are not able to get help in the state — they’ve gotta go to Indiana, they’ve gotta go to Illinois, and that’s not good enough for J.D. Vance,” Ryan said.
“He supports a national abortion ban in which he wants women to have to get a passport and go to Canada. Like we’ve got to have some moderation on this issue. He’s got a very extreme position. J.D., you called rape inconvenience, right? That rape is not inconvenient. It’s a significant tragedy. And he thinks that we should have Ohio state law, which says if you’re raped or incest, pregnant through incest, that you should be forced to have the baby,” he added.
Vance shot back that he “always believed in reasonable exceptions” and alleged that Ryan’s accusation was “a misrepresentation of my view, but let’s hear it from me, not from congressman Ryan.”
After Ryan pointed to an underage girl who was raped having to go to Indiana to obtain the procedure, Vance pivoted to slam Ryan on his record on border security, arguing that stronger borders could have prevented the tragedy.
“The thing they never mentioned is that poor girl was raped by an illegal alien, somebody that should have never been in this state in the first place. You voted so many times against border wall funding, so many times for amnesty — if you had done your job, she would have never been raped in the first place. Do your job on border security. Don’t lecture me about opinions,” Vance said.
Candidates trade barbs over policing
Vance slammed Ryan over his support for changes to policies related to qualified immunity, arguing that his stance would fail to protect members of law enforcement acting in good faith.
“We’ve got to increase funding for law enforcement. We’ve got to protect law enforcement, and we’ve got to do something that Tim Ryan failed to do, which is stop the leadership of this country from going after qualified immunity,” Vance said.
Ryan asserted that he is supportive of police and has voted for additional funding and accused Vance of failing to show support for police by raising funds for those that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
“J.D. Vance raised money for the Legal Defense Fund of the insurrectionists. This is the kind of extremism J.D. that we wholly reject. You have video posts, don’t even try to deny it. And we got your Twitter posts and everything else. Everybody’s seen it,” he said.
Same-sex marriage emerges as an issue in the race
While both Vance and Ryan said that they believe same-sex marriage is the law of the land, the candidates were at odds over legislation to codify it into law.
Vance argued that he doesn’t see the legislation as being “about gay marriage” and feels that it could have negative consequences for religious liberties.
“I’ve come out against this bill. And I don’t think it’s actually about gay marriage. It’s not about same-sex marriage or same-sex equality. Look, gay marriage is the law of the land in this country. And I’m not trying to do anything to change that,” he said. “But if you look at the specific bill that’s being proposed, it wouldn’t just codify something that’s already been enacted in law — it would actually make it easier for both the government and a lot of private parties to sue religious organizations, if those religious organizations don’t comply with the dictates of the federal government.”
Ryan clapped back, pointing to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurring opinion to the decision overturning Roe suggesting that he’s open to overturning other settled legal precedents.
“I voted for that in the House of Representatives. I will support codifying that into the Senate, but only J.D. Vance can say that — that the bill that codifys same-sex marriage is not about same-sex marriage. It’s unbelievable,” he said.
“The problem we have here is we have 15,000 marriages here in Ohio. And when you read Justice Thomas’s opinion on abortion, which J.D. Vance wants to celebrate, it also included in their nullifying these marriages. And it also included getting rid of protections around birth control. This is what I’m trying to explain to Ohioans, that J.D. Vance is extreme on these issues.”
Candidates take aim at each other over China
Both Ryan and Vance hit each other over their positions on China, with Ryan alleging that Vance has invested in companies in China.
“The problem we’re having now with inflation is our supply chains all went to China. And guys like him have made a lot of money off that, and that is exactly why the supply chains are locked up,” Ryan said.
Vance shot back, accusing Ryan of flip-flopping on the issue and alleged that his past positions on energy policies led to jobs being sent abroad.
“You cannot do modern industrial manufacturing without high-quality energy. Tim Ryan just told a big fib,” he said.
“You supported banning fracking both on public lands, and generally speaking, that crushes the Ohio energy sector, and that’s one of the reasons why manufacturers are going to China,” Vance said.
