Democrat Tim Ryan, a former 20-year Mahoning Valley congressman, said today that he will not run for governor.

In a prepared statement, Ryan said: “After careful consideration, much prayer and reflection, and after long conversations with my family, my closest friends and advisors, I’ve made the decision not to run for governor in 2026.”

The decision came as a surprise as Dennis Willard, Ryan’s spokesman, said recently that Ryan “has asked his team to prepare to launch a campaign.”

Willard had recently added that the preparations included “everything we would need to stand up a campaign from identifying key personnel to manage, raise money, communications and everything in between. Tim told us the people of Ohio deserve bold leadership and someone who will fight for them so be ready to go.”

Ryan also personally made calls to line up support for his campaign, sources say.

With Ryan out of the race, the lone declared Democrat for governor is Dr. Amy Acton, who rose to prominence during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic as the state’s health director. She declared for the seat back in January.

Since then, Action, a Youngstown native, has received more than 200 endorsements.

On the Republican side, the clear front-runner is Vivek Ramaswamy, a wealthy biotech entrepreneur who has received many endorsements including the Ohio Republican Party and President Donald Trump as well as several statewide and national Republican officeholders and several unions.

Ryan had talked of running for governor for months.

Ryan’s potential bid for governor essentially ended when it looked like Sherrod Brown, a former three-term senator and the most-recognizable name in Ohio Democratic politics, was seriously considering the position. Instead, Brown chose in August to run for the Senate.

After that, Ryan put himself on a self-imposed Sept. 30 deadline to decide. On Sept. 30, Willard said Ryan was “going to take a few additional days to make his decision.”

Those “few additional days” were 52.

Ryan has made a significant amount of money since losing the 2022 Senate race by 6.1% to Republican J.D. Vance by advocating for the national gas industry and cryptocurrency.

For more, read Saturday’s print and online editions.