Tim Ryan Doesn't Want Help From National Democrats Despite Vance's Lead

Democratic Senate candidate Tim Ryan may be trailing his GOP opponent with less than a week until Election Day, but the Ohio congressman has said he doesn't want help from the Democratic National Committee.

"The national Democratic party has never been good at strategic political decisions," Ryan told CNN's Kaitlan Collins on Thursday. "Thank god that I have enough experience that I built this campaign not needing them, and we really don't want them at this point."

Throughout his campaign, Ryan has maintained a distance from national Democrats like President Joe Biden, in an effort to appeal to Ohio's more moderate voters. But the decision to keep top Democrats off the campaign trail has also resulted in fewer national resources being poured into his high-profile race against J.D. Vance.

Asked why he thought the Democratic Party wasn't doing more to help his campaign in a state that decisively went to Trump in both 2016 and 2020, Ryan said "it's not a surprise" coming from his own party.

"We're going to do this thing with all the grassroots people we have here. Organized labor's been huge. We have 415,000 donors across the country," Ryan said Thursday, adding that 95 percent of his campaign's contributions have been from small donors.

Ryan has significantly outraised his GOP opponent throughout this election cycle, raking in over $48 million and breaking the previous state record held by Senator Sherrod Brown's 2018 re-election campaign.

However, polls continue to show Vance with a slight advantage over Ryan. As of Thursday, Vance is leading by 2.3 points, according to FiveThirtyEight, and 2.2, according to RealClearPolitics. The Cook Political Report still forecasts the race to "lean Republican."

Over recent months, Ryan has raised eyebrows by breaking with his party on numerous issues and hinting that he doesn't want Biden to run again in 2024. He's repeatedly showcased his differing positions on border security and student debt relief and focused much of his campaign on the economy—the top voting issue in this year's midterms—as many of his fellow Democrats have opted to spotlight abortion rights instead.

The five-term congressman has embraced the discrepancies between him and his party, saying that his ability to buck party leaders will give him "a level of independence that most senators don't have." He's also used it to contrast his campaign to that of his opponent.

Unlike Ryan, Vance has rallied alongside top GOP figures, like former President Donald Trump, and received millions in donations from prominent Republicans, like Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and billionaire Peter Thiel.

"I'll probably be one of the most independent senators ever to walk into the Senate," Ryan said, "Where J.D. Vance, on the other hand, has taken $15 million from a Silicon Valley billionaire and $40 million from Mitch McConnell. This guy's bought and paid for before he even walks through the door."

Newsweek reached out to the Democratic National Committee for comment.