Tim Ryan made a long-awaited announcement on the eve of the holiday week.
On Friday morning, the former congressman, former presidential candidate and former U.S. Senate candidate said he will not run for governor.
In a statement released by his campaign, 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.”
That means both major parties now have their primary candidates: Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton.
After Ryan's announcement, Acton's campaign released a statement saying she is focused on Ramaswamy and lowering costs for Ohioans.
To look deeper into this decision, we welcome a panel of Statehouse insiders: reporter Andrew Tobias of Signal Statewide, Republican strategist Terry Casey and progressive activist Morgan Harper, who ran against Tim Ryan in the Democratic Senate primary a couple of years ago.