Ryan, who served in the U.S. House from 2003 to 2023, has had a political career marked by lofty goals, from an attempt to unseat U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California as Democrats’ House minority leader in 2016, to launching a long-shot 2020 presidential bid, to mounting a U.S. Senate contest in 2022, narrowly lost.
His decision ends months of speculation about the Democratic primary in the race to replace Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a term-limited Republican set to leave office in 2026.
It’s one less hurdle for Amy Acton, who rose to political prominence as DeWine’s health director during the pandemic. She began her gubernatorial race early and has led the field since, but her dominance has been slightly overshadowed by murmurs that more prominent Democrats, like Ryan or former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown — who decided to run for Senate again in 2026 — might enter the race.
If nominated by her party, Acton will likely take on Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur, former presidential candidate and ally of President Donald Trump who has netted the endorsements of the president and the Ohio Republican Party.
Acton released a statement shortly after Ryan’s decision went public.
“No matter what corner of the state I’m in, it’s clear Ohioans are struggling with rising costs. Whether it’s healthcare, childcare, gas or groceries, there’s too much money going out and not enough coming in,” she said. “And while the special interests that run our state are doing just fine, they’ve made a mess for the rest of us, and I will not allow a billionaire Washington insider like Vivek Ramaswamy take us down an even worse path.”
Ramaswamy did not immediately respond to Ryan dropping out of the race, but his allies including Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose did.
“Tim Ryan’s decision not to run for governor reinforces what we already know — that (Ramaswamy) is a unifying, visionary leader who’s building not just a political campaign but an unstoppable movement to lead Ohio into the future," LaRose posted on X shortly after the announcement. “We’ve never seen a candidate for governor put together such a dominant, diverse coalition so quickly that the opposition can’t even figure out how to stop it. Tim finally realized they won’t.”
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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
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