Tim Ryan says having Midwest ‘in my bones’ an advantage in 2020 race

Newly declared presidential candidate Rep. Tim Ryan says he’s “pretty confident” he’ll make the stage at the upcoming Democratic primary debates.

And the eight-term Democratic congressman from northeast Ohio – one of the few candidates in the large 2020 field to hail from the Midwest – spotlighted that he has the heartland “in my bones,” which he thinks may give him a political advantage in the race for the Democratic nomination.

Ryan declared his candidacy last week, relatively late compared with most of his rivals for the nomination. The first round of debates hosted by the Democratic National Committee is in late June. To make the cut, candidates have to receive at least 1 percent support in three DNC-approved polls and bring in contributions from at least 65,000 unique donors — with a minimum of 200 donors from at least 20 states.

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