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Ohio Democratic Presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan visits West Michigan

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan photo
Wikimedia Commons

Democratic Presidential Candidate Tim Ryan visited West Michigan this weekend as keynote speaker for the Kent County Democratic Party annual Spring Gala. WGVU spoke with the U.S. Congressman from Ohio ahead of the event about his platform heading into the 2020 race.

U.S. Representative Tim Ryan says if he’s elected president he’d unite the country and focus on what he calls the new economy.

“You know, electric vehicles and solar and wind and these industries that are growing at 25%-30%. You know, we’re getting our clocks cleaned by China right now and we need to dominate these industries and cut workers in on the deal.”

The Ohio democrat is from steel country, Youngstown, where General Motors recently shuttered its Lordstown Assembly plant. Not only is he focused on American industry and its workers, but the future of health care and curbing costs.

“Well, we need some kind of public option for people to be able to buy in to where they can get affordable, accessible, quality health care. You know, I don’t think we should be getting rid of anyone’s private insurance, but there should be some public option that gives them affordability when it comes to prescription drugs, and they can’t be denied because they have a pre-existing condition. We also need to have the conversation about 75% of the dollars we spend on health care are for chronic diseases that are preventable. And if we don’t get that under control it’s going to be very difficult for us to make health care affordable for everyone else.”

U.S. Representative Ryan announced his run for president last month. He’s now one of 21 democrats running for the party’s nomination.

Patrick Center, WGVU News.

Patrick joined WGVU Public Media in December, 2008 after eight years of investigative reporting at Grand Rapids' WOOD-TV8 and three years at WYTV News Channel 33 in Youngstown, Ohio. As News and Public Affairs Director, Patrick manages our daily radio news operation and public interest television programming. An award-winning reporter, Patrick has won multiple Michigan Associated Press Best Reporter/Anchor awards and is a three-time Academy of Television Arts & Sciences EMMY Award winner with 14 nominations.