The first debate between Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan and Republican JD Vance devolved quickly into attacks Monday.
Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The first debate between Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan and Republican JD Vance devolved quickly into attacks Monday, with the candidates for Ohio’s open U.S. Senate seat accusing each other of being responsible for job losses and putting party loyalty ahead of voters’ needs.
Vance said Ryan had supported policies as a congressman that led to a 10-year-old girl in Ohio being raped. Ryan said Vance had started a “fake nonprofit” to help people overcome addiction issues. The two accused each other of being beholden to their party, with Ryan calling Vance an “a— kisser” to former President Donald Trump at a recent rally and Vance saying Ryan’s 100% voting record with President Joe Biden means he’s not the reasonable moderate he says he is.
The face-off between Ryan, a 10-term congressman, and Vance, a venture capitalist and author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” for the seat being vacated by retiring GOP Sen. Rob Portman became one of the most contentious debates of the general election season so far. The race is one of the most expensive and closely watched of the midterms, with Democrats viewing it as a possible pickup opportunity in November.
Both candidates sought to tailor their messages to the working-class voters who could determine the election.
During questioning about China, Ryan said Vance invested in China as a venture capitalist, the type of business move that exacerbated job losses in Ohio’s manufacturing base. “Here’s the problem: JD Vance is invested into companies in China,” Ryan said. “The problem we’re having now with inflation is our supply chains all went to China, and guys like him made a whole lot of money off that.”
Vance said it is Democratic economic policies that have harmed manufacturing, saying, “They have completely gone to war against America’s energy sector.”
“I wish you were the reasonable moderate you said you were, because then Youngstown may not have lost 50,000 manufacturing jobs during your 20 years,” Vance told Ryan.
On abortion, Vance did not answer whether he would support Sen. Lindsey Graham’s proposed ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Vance said he thinks different states would likely want different laws but “some minimum national standard is totally fine with me.”
He called himself “pro-life” but said he has “always believed in reasonable exceptions.”
Ryan said he supports codifying the abortion rights established in Roe v. Wade, which was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in June. He said he opposes Ohio’s law banning most abortions after fetal cardiac activity has been detected, as early as six weeks into pregnancy, which was blocked Friday.
“This is the largest government overreach in the history of our lifetime, a complete violation of personal freedom and liberty of women in this state,” he said. Ryan said Vance sides with extremists who would allow politicians into people’s personal lives.
Meanwhile, Vance said a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim should not have had to leave the state for an abortion, but he said the fact her attacker was in the country illegally was a failure of weak border policies.
“You voted so many times against the border wall funding, so many times for amnesty, Tim,” Vance said. “If you had done your job, she would have never been raped in the first place.”
At the end of Monday’s debate, Vance and Ryan shook hands.
