Tim Ryan isn't a registered Democrat

As of Thursday afternoon, Ryan also had a campaign sign for a Republican candidate outside of his home in Plain City.

Tim Ryan is an “unaffiliated” voter, according to Union County Board of Elections records.

Last month, former Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan missed a self-imposed deadline to decide on a possible gubernatorial campaign.

Ryan spokesman Dennis Willard said on Oct. 2 that the methane and cryptocurrency lobbyist needed “a few more days” to decide on a potential run, while also taking a not-so-subtle shot at current Democratic gubernatorial frontrunner Dr. Amy Acton.

“Tim believes he is the strongest candidate to beat Vivek [Ramaswamy],” Willard said.

Ryan, however, teased his entrance into the race with a tweet on Thursday morning:

via Tim Ryan on Twitter

The man to Ryan’s immediate left is Brandon Hall, a partner at Left Hook Strategies, the left-leaning consulting firm that ran Ryan’s losing Senate campaign against J.D. Vance in 2022.

However, according to Union County Board of Elections records, Ryan is not a registered Democrat:

Ryan’s current registration shows he is, like most Ohioans, an “unaffiliated voter.” The file matches Ryan’s middle name and birth year. The house deed also includes Andrea Ryan, which matches Ryan’s wife’s name.

Ryan, like most Ohioans, is currently registered as an “unaffiliated” voter. Ryan purchased his Plain City home for $1.2 million in September 2023. While he managed to vote in that year’s General Election, he didn’t vote in the 2024 or 2025 Democratic primaries.

Presumably, Ryan last voted in the Democratic Senate primary in 2022 when he defeated Columbus lawyer and activist Morgan Harper to advance to the General Election.

Ryan apparently hasn’t voted in a primary since and lost his Democratic status.

I’m no legal expert, so take this analysis with a grain of salt, but my understanding of the Ohio Democratic Party’s bylaws is that there’s nothing explicitly barring an unaffiliated voter from running as a gubernatorial candidate in the party’s primary.

But it could easily become a campaign issue for a candidate who needs to earn back credibility with the base.

If Ryan does enter the race, he will have to mend fences with the types of Democratic voters who participate in primaries, since Ryan angered many traditional Democrats when he ran as “not the faggy kind of Democrat” in his losing effort against Vance.

The effort to attract Republican voters wasn’t just a campaign ploy, either.

As of yesterday afternoon, Ryan’s house also touted a campaign sign for Aaron Grabovich, a registered Republican who’s running for Jerome Township trustee:

Left: An “Aaron Grabovich for Jerome Township Trustee” sign outside Tim Ryan’s home in Plain City on Thursday afternoon. According to a source, the sign has been in that position since at least Sept. 28. Right: Grabovich’s voter registration with the Union County Board of Elections, which shows he’s a longtime Republican.

Grabovich also touts volunteering for LifeWise Academy on his LinkedIn profile:

LifeWise Academy, for the unfamiliar, is the billionaire-funded front group that takes public school students off campus during the school day for “religious instruction.”

As a steering committee chair, Grabovich would have been instrumental in expanding a reactionary religious indoctrination program into an increasingly Democratic city like Dublin.