CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — Congressman Tim Ryan was welcomed to a room with cheers and applause on Saturday in Chillicothe while he discussed his bid to be Ohio’s next U.S. Senator.
Ryan, who represents the Youngstown area in Congress, announced last month he would run for the open seat being vacated by current Senator, Rob Portman in 2022.
Joining the congressman in the room on Saturday were nearly a dozen southern Ohio chairmen and women who represent their county’s respective democratic parties, their spouses, and other local political leaders, including Chillicothe Mayor Luke Feeney. Ryan was touting his “Workers First” platform, which he said is key to the Scioto Valley’s future.
“It means understanding workers are doing everything right and still cannot get ahead,” Ryan said with passion in his voice. “Workers need to be cut-in on the deal. I’m very pro-business, I’ve worked with businesses my entire career, but CEOs making 300-or-400 times what the worker is making does not work. It has hollowed out our communities.”
Ohio’s minimum wage currently sits at $8.80 an hour before taxes and health insurance, whereas, Ohio’s largest company — the grocery retailer Kroger — gave their CEO a salary of $20.1 million last year, according to the Associated Press’ methodology for executive compensation that excludes pension value changes.
“What I want is to put the worker at the center of the table, and then we build our economic structure around them. Where they can have a secure retirement, where they can have a good wage, where they can have some breathing room, and access to healthcare. That’s what it means: workers first. Build the economy around them.”
A topic that had many in the room audibly agreeing with Ryan was when he brought up broadband internet access, specifically, in southern Ohio. According to InnovateOhio, more than 300,000 households, or 1 million Ohioans, lack access to high-speed internet. Recently, the Ohio Senate nixed a proposal that would have allocated $250 million to grow internet access. This is something Ryan said he and his democratic colleagues in Washington are working to rectify.
“Part of the big infrastructure plan we’re talking about (in D.C.) includes hundreds-of-billions of dollars for broadband, and this is a major economic development issue,” the congressman said. “Companies who are now looking to move out of New York or California — where they pay a lot more money — are looking for places to go, and if you don’t have real quality broadband, then your community is not on the menu for them. That’s why these investments are so important. This is the most pro-business bill I’ve seen in my 20 years in congress.”
Ryan said seeing children go to McDonald’s or another fast food restaurant to use free WiFi just to download their homework is “insane.”
“This is insane in 2021. To me, this is equivalent to what we had to do with water back in the day, what the Tennessee valley did with electricity; these communities could not grow without those, and now, it’s broadband.”
With a United States Senate that is stalled with a 50/50 split, Ryan said his voice will make a difference. He said that the heavy divide is preventing America’s growth and that rhetoric and “culture wars” are partly to blame.
“The other side wants to talk about Dr. Seuss and banning critical race theory and all kinds of cultural wars they want to start; we want to talk about jobs, healthcare, education, and retirement, and social security. And, the fact that my mom — much like many people in your community — pays $1,000 a month for prescription drugs is unacceptable in the United States of America. And, we need to say it. We’re not going to get into fights about all this crazy stuff. We’re going to stay focused on the issues that are pertinent to the vast majority of people of Ohio and we’re not going to let them take us off this message.”
Six republicans will face off in a primary next year to become their party’s nominee. Current Senator Rob Portman announced earlier this year he would not seek re-election. So far, Ryan is the only democrat to publicly announce his intent to run, and he seems to have the backing of most political power players in his party.
“Tim is exactly what the United States needs right now,” said Ross County Democratic Chairman Tom Spetnagel. “He stands on the side of blue-collar workers who have been left out for too long and just want to get a fair shake. I am proud to stand with him and am excited to help him bring his message to Ohioans.”