Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Tim Ryan lamented the lack of cooperation between his campaign and national-level Democrats, in an interview published Wednesday.
Ryan is running for a Senate seat in Ohio against Republican candidate JD Vance.
Ryan, who has previously complained about a lack of coordination among Democrats nationally, statewide and locally, questioned whether the party’s leadership knows what it’s doing.
Rep. Tim Ryan and JD Vance (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
“National Democrats have been known not to make very good strategic decisions over the years,” Ryan told The Washington Post. “There’s a frustration among the rank-and-file Democrats that the leadership doesn’t quite understand where we want this party to be.”
A new Suffolk University/USA Today survey found that if the election in Ohio were held today, 47% of likely voters would choose Vance compared to 45% who would vote for Ryan.
Ryan noted his 350,000 individual donors, saying that those supporters are “frustrated” by the lack of national help.
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JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance after winning the Republican primary on May 3, 2022, in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
He went on to ask why Democratic heavyweights don’t “smell blood” in Ohio as Vance’s campaign has begun to overtake the race.
Ryan told NBC News earlier this month that working with national Democrats was “like pulling teeth.”
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Rep. Tim Ryan speaks with voters at a tailgate party at The Ohio State University football game, on Oct. 1, 2022, in Columbus. (Tim Ryan Senate campaign )
The Democrat noted that he was not getting the same kind of “air support” as Vance but that he just had a “$17 million fundraising haul.”
Vance and Ryan engaged in a heated debate on Monday that focused on economic issues and abortion as both candidates accused each other of ignoring significant issues in Ohio.
