(Bloomberg) -- Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio, who represents a blue-collar Democratic region that supported Donald Trump in 2016, announced he’ll seek the Democratic nomination to challenge the president in 2020.
Ryan, 45, a nine-term congressman from the Youngstown area, has been traveling to Iowa and other states with early primaries testing the waters for a presidential bid.
“I am running for president as part of a new generation,” Ryan said on his website. “America needs new ideas and leaders who will put aside partisan politics. We need to find center again - not by compromising our s, but by making room at the table for all Americans.”
Ryan unsuccessfully challenged Nancy Pelosi for minority leader in 2016 and initially called for new leadership last year before supporting her for speaker after Democrats won the House. He previously has also considered campaigns for Ohio governor and senator without opting to run.
The Youngstown area is a former steel-making bastion that has been historically Democratic. While Hillary Clinton won Ryan’s sprawling 13th Congressional District, Trump carried Ryan’s home county and nearly won another in the region with his populist message of advocating for workers who have been left behind in the economy.
Ryan, who graduated from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and received a law degree from the University of New Hampshire, served in the Ohio State Senate before being elected to Congress.
He told the Vindicator newspaper of Youngstown last month he’s listening to the 15 candidates already in the crowded Democratic field and not hearing about jobs, health care, pensions and how the U.S. is going to become more competitive.
“Over the last 20 years, failed leadership and broken promises have destroyed the middle class, forcing our economy into crisis and pushing the American Dream out of reach,” Ryan said on his website Thursday.
Ryan’s district includes the General Motors assembly plant in Lordstown that was idled in March, and he has been critical of Trump for not doing more to save the plant.
Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, who also champions workers’ issues, staged a “dignity of work” tour of early presidential voting states before announcing last month he wouldn’t seek the Democratic nomination.
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