Rooster in Review: Enter Methane lobbyist

All signs are pointing to former Congressman Tim Ryan entering the gubernatorial race with a former Statehouse leader as his likely running mate.

As you might have heard, Sherrod Brown will run for Senate in 2026, with questions remaining whether he’ll run again in 2028 if he wins.

As The Rooster reported on Wednesday, multiple sources close to Ryan expect him to enter the race.

And we got another sign in that direction Wednesday morning, when Ryan enjoyed State Rep. Allison Russo’s dunk on notorious conman Vivek Ramaswamy’s preposterous cowboy outfit.

The allusion to Ryan’s gubernatorial run isn’t hard to see.

And while mocking Ramaswamy is always a good idea, it’s probably not coincidental that Ryan chose to boost the Russo tweet rather than the original one with the picture.

As The Rooster reported on July 31, there has long been an expectation that Russo will run for Secretary of State.

In fact, according to one source, Russo has been “courting labor leaders across the state” in preparation for a statewide run.

Two weeks ago, she met with Tim Burga, the president of the Ohio AFL-CIO.

And while Russo is expected to declare for Secretary of State as early as next week, numerous sources have indicated she would be near the top, if not at the top, of Ryan’s potential Lieutenant Governor list.

“Russo is using [Precision Media and Public Relations president] Dennis Willard for her campaign,” a source told The Rooster Friday morning. “Willard is making statements for Tim Ryan.

“This can’t be a coincidence.”

I agree, though I expect Ryan won’t rush to make anything official until a much later date.

Ryan has his critics within the Democratic Party. And I’ve consistently been one, especially about his diabolical lobbying portfolio of cryptocurrency and methane.

He will also have to repair his image with the kinds of voters that decide Democratic primaries after he spent his 2022 Senate campaign basically declaring himself as “not that kind of homosexual Democrat.”

But even if you dislike Ryan, his presence in the race is a good thing. Dr. Amy Acton has been on a tear lately, but it’s not unfair to say that she’s been untested as a candidate.

A primary between Acton and Ryan would almost be engineered in a lab to annoy me. But robust political debates should be the bedrock of the Democratic Party.

And if Dr. Acton can’t beat Ryan, well, there’s no chance she would have beaten the notorious conman if Ryan had stayed on the sidelines. And the same could be said about Ryan if he can’t beat Dr. Acton.

I also understand anybody who’s underwhelmed by their options at this point. But the facts remain that Brown, Ryan and Acton are about the only three candidates with the credibility and fundraising ability to stand a chance in a statewide election.

None of the three big city mayors has the stones to attempt such a feat, and they’re all unique losers in their own right anyway. Beyond them, there are various city council members or perhaps State Rep. Sean Brennan (D-Parma).

And I like the Parma Kid. He’s got the juice, as evidenced by him outperforming Trump in Parma. But going from a sophomore legislator to leading a statewide ticket is almost an impossible ask given the circumstances.

And I know that multiple influential Democrats are hoping to convince him to run against Congressman Max Miller in Ohio’s 7th Congressional District, anyway.

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This week in Ohio Man…

Timur Mamatov’s life was probably over when he got that face tattoo, to be honest.

As I’ve written before, I’m bigoted against three groups of people: Teenagers, people with face tattoos that aren’t rappers, and white British citizens who don’t cheer for Aston Villa in the Premiership.

It might seem harsh, but it’s never led me wrong, as evidenced by this grisly case of stone-cold antisemitism that happened back in November.

From Dan DeRoos of cleveland19.com:

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - A 20-year-old Tipp City, Ohio man pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges after he attacked two students at The Ohio State University because they are Jewish.

According to court documents, Timur Mamatov and a friend approached five students outside a bar on North High Street on Nov. 10, 2024, because one student was wearing a necklace with a Jewish symbol.

Mamatov then asked if they were Jewish and when they said yes, he punched one victim in the face, fracturing his jaw.

A second victim suffered a fractured nose.

I would wager that Mamatov and his friend were intoxicated when they engaged in that act of brutality. But either way… sayanora, man! You deserve to be segregated from society for a hot minute if federal hate crimes are your idea of a good time.

And since I’ll never again run to represent Tipp City in the Statehouse, I can say this much: I’m not surprised this dude hails from Tipp City. They have a nice downtown, to be sure, but it’s a dark and twisted place filled with a lot of racial and ethnic hatred.

This week in The Rooster…

Photo by Niclas Dehmel on Unsplash

It was another brisk week of publishing at Rooster Worldwide LLC:

• Vivek Ramaswamy’s possible Lieutenant Governors, ranked. Third Place Frank Larose? Senator Kristina Roegner? Or Senate President Rob McColley?

• The Sherrod shuffle. Looking at the downwind ramifications of Sherrod Brown all but officially running against Jon Husted, who has a single Dave & Buster’s game ticket where his brain is supposed to be, for a return to the United States Senate in 2026.

• Erica Crawley isn’t serious. Franklin County Commissioner Erica Crawley had six weeks to get her story in order for the cameras about blazing a red light, t-boning a red Lexus, and hospitalizing the driver. The results weren’t great. This dispatch is free for all.

• Ohio’s school bus scam. The Columbus City School Board tackled this week what The Guardian reported: Ohio mandating public school districts provide bussing to private and charter school students is screwing public students out of transportation (and their districts out of millions of dollars).

We’ll do it again next week at the same time and place.

Until then…. stay frosty, my friends!

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