Trending
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan finally got an opponent in the Democratic primary for next year's U.S. Senate race, though those close to his campaign aren't concerned.
Morgan Harper of Columbus, whose lone bid for political office last year ended with a resounding defeat in a Democratic primary, announced Wednesday that she will seek the party's nomination for the Senate spot.
"Everything is on the line right now," she told me. "We see the ongoing threat to our democracy, a woman's right to choose and an economic system that is not working for workers, small business owners and we need to offer a new, fresh voice to people."
Harper is a progressive who supports Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. In her 2020 challenge to U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Columbus, she received the endorsement of liberal groups.
She raised a respectable $858,170 for the primary while taking no corporate political action committee contributions.
But Harper was defeated by Beatty 68.1 percent to 31.9 percent.
That primary was unusual as it was held during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, was postponed at almost the last minute and then was done virtually all by mail.
Even so, Harper didn't stand a chance of beating Beatty.
And Beatty is someone with a long memory. When word spread two weeks ago about a potential Harper Senate bid, Beatty, who is also the head of the influential Congressional Black Caucus, endorsed Ryan for the position.
Asked how someone so far politically left can win in a state as Republican as Ohio, Harper said: "We've seen folks in Ohio who are progressive win. (U.S. Sen.) Sherrod Brown for example and we're going to be focusing this campaign on mobilizing voters across the state that we need to turn out to win."
Later, I asked for examples of other progressives besides Brown winning statewide in the past 15 years.
Harper response: "We have examples of people who have won who are both progressive and have presented a little bit more of an outsider, not so much the insider choice. Sherrod Brown is one example of that. (Former President Barack) Obama would be an example of that."
Brown is a progressive, but hardly a political outsider as he's been in elected office since 1975.
Besides Brown, those running as Democrats on statewide ballots have been shut out for more than a decade in Ohio.
Harper was hesitant to criticize Ryan, D-Howland, the only announced Democrat for the seat until her.
She said she wasn't a political insider or a career politician in an effort to indicate Ryan is both.
The furthest she went in our conversation was to say Ryan's "been in office for a couple of decades, and I come from more of a community-based background."
In an email sent Wednesday through Democrats.com, a website for progressive activists, Harper wrote "I don't think Democrats will flip Ohio if we nominate another establishment insider."
The National Republican Senatorial Committee tried to pile on in an email titled "Tim Ryan's nightmare comes true."
NRSC spokeswoman Lizzie Litzow said in the email: "Tim Ryan was getting a little too comfortable being the only Democrat in Ohio running for U.S. Senate. Morgan Harper's challenge will certainly give Ryan a run for his money and force him to show Ohioans his true colors."
Don't be surprised to see Republicans run ads during next year's Democratic primary in an effort to hurt Ryan and help Harper.
It would be a dream come true for Republicans to have Harper as the Democratic nominee while their party's Senate candidates fight it out each claiming to be the Trumpiest.
Ryan's campaign isn't commenting on Harper with Izzi Levy, his spokeswoman, saying that he "will be taking his relentless focus on workers to every corner of Ohio" until the November 2022 election.
There's a cliche in politics: You run unopposed or you run scared.
Don't expect Ryan to run either way in the Democratic primary.
Those close to Ryan's campaign tell me they don't consider Harper a legitimate threat and they don't expect him to spend much campaign money in the primary.