The Fix: Ryan Will Be Strickland's Running Mate in 2010

As much chatter as I've heard about this, I still haven't believed it. Until Now.

From The Fix:

Ryan for (Lt.) Gov: Youthful Ohio Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan (he's 35) will announce that he is running for lieutenant governor later this week, according to two sources familiar with the decision. The LG's office is being vacated by Lee Fisher who is one of several candidates running for the seat of retiring Sen. George Voinovich (R) in 2010. Ryan would presumably run as the hand-picked choice of Gov. Ted Strickland and, if the ticket is elected in 2010, would be the obvious favorite to replace the term-limited incumbent in 2014. Ryan's departure will create an open seat in the House where state Senate Minority Leader Capri Cafaro would be an early favorite.

Wow. So Tim Ryan appears poised to give up Ohio's 2nd most heavily Democratic congressional seat in order to be Ted Strickland's running mate in 2010, thus making him the leading Democratic candidate for governor in 2014.

I would just have to caution, however, that Capri Cafaro will have quite a fight on her hands for this seat. You'll have mayors and county commissioners from all four counties in this district gunning for it. One who is probably loading up his weaponry right now: State Sen. Tom Sawyer, who spent 16 years in Congress until his seat was redistricted out from under him in 2002.

Lunchtime Thought: Tim Ryan as Lt. Governor? Seriously?

Over at Ohio Daily Blog, Anthony has just posted a weekend straw poll: who should Gov. Strickland pick as his 2010 running mate? One of the choices is U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-17th).

Seriously? I've heard this rumor before, and I have a hard time buying it. Tim Ryan is widely regarded in Washington as one of the rising stars of the Democratic caucus. He holds a coveted seat on the House Appropriations Committee. Why in the world would he leave that behind in order to become Lieutenant Governor?

So he can run for governor in 2014? He can do that without leaving the house...Gov. Strickland himself demonstrated that in 2006. 

Because he's worried about his seat being redistricted out from under him? Well, that is a consideration. Ohio is going to lose two congressional seats in the 2010 reapportionment (according to Election Data Services, Ohio's 17th would be the 432nd seat in Congress based on 2007 census estimates. By the time 2010 rolls around, the Ohio 17th will be long gone) and with John Boicceri, Zack Space and Charlie Wilson currently holding down eastern Ohio congressional seats, chances are pretty good that there will be more Congressman than there are seats in eastern Ohio come 2012. 

So that's a possible scenario, Tim Ryan runs for Lt. Gov. and clears the way for Boicceri to represent the Youngstown area come 2012, and perfectly positions himself for running for governor in 2014. However, it'd be a shame for Ohio to lose that seat on apporpriations. Ohio has had a lot of turnover in its congressional delegation over the last two cycles, and with that comes lose of seniority and influence. When it comes to DC, we need all the help we can get.