US Senate candidates J.D. Vance and Tim Ryan took part in a heated debate in Cleveland Monday night, with both candidates accusing each other of being party supporters.
Two men are vying for Senator Rob Portman’s seat in one of the most watched races of the 2022 midseason.
Ryan, a 10th-term Democratic congressman, believes claims of 2020 election fraud and tries to portray Vance as an extremist, repeating his relationship with the ‘madman’ who contributed to the Jan. 6 attacks. It was made. As a result, Republican candidate Vance accused Ryan of distracting him from more important issues such as inflation.
Vance, a venture capitalist and author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” suggested that Youngstown, which lost tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs, would have prospered if Ryan had taken “reasonable” policies.
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“Halloween is approaching and Tim Ryan is wearing a costume pretending to be a reasonable moderate,” Vance claimed during the debate.
Ryan said, “I spent 20 years of my adulthood working hard to help one of Ohio’s most economically hit areas, and dedicated my life to helping that area recover. “You should be ashamed of yourself, JD. You were in California drinking wine and eating cheese.”
Ryan also alleged that Vance invested in a Chinese company that damaged Ohio. “The problem we have now with inflation is that all of our supply chains went to China and people like him made a lot of money off it,” the Democratic candidate claimed.
Vance replied that he could not recall investing in Chinese companies and accused liberal economic policies of hurting Ohio’s working class.
The two men also debated abortion, with Ryan endorsing Roe v. Wade wholeheartedly and Vance calling himself a pro-life with a “reasonable exception.” Vance did not answer whether he supported the 15-week federal abortion limit proposed by Senator Lindsey Graham, but said “minimum national standards are sufficient.”
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Ryan said Vance didn’t have the courage to stand up to other Republicans, and the candidates made several personal attacks on each other.
“I’m not here just to join the fight or toe the line of the Democratic Party,” Ryan insisted. “I’m here to speak the truth.”
“I’m not going to take a lesson about dignity and self-esteem from a guy kissing Chuck Schumer in a video and begging for a promotion to his next job,” Vance retorted. I’m a good person.”
Early polls are leaning in Vance’s favor, but Democratic strategists say Ryan could easily win with support from existing Democrats.
“Tim Ryan is running for the best Senate race in the country, and he has to go it alone,” said strategist Eileen Lin. If the D.C. wins a majority, the blame should be directed squarely on the D.C. military for wrongfully withdrawing from Ohio.”
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Despite the heated exchange, the two shook hands at the end of the debate. Senate elections will be held in Ohio on November 8th.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.