Morgan Harper calls out Ohio Democratic Party for endorsing Tim Ryan
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Congressman Tim Ryan received the endorsement of the Ohio Democratic Party Thursday night in the race for U.S. Senate. It's a move that one of his opponents, Morgan Harper, fiercely opposed.
"Voters in Ohio have not yet had a chance to consider or make their decision at the polls," Harper said.
Speaking in a Zoom conference just a few hours before the ODP voted to endorse Ryan, Harper said the party should not endorse anyone in contested primaries.
"If the party issues an official endorsement of (Tim) Ryan which may also come with financial expenditures, that will be tipping the scales too far in his favor and it is not in the voters or the party's best interest," Harper said. "I think we really need to ask ourselves if we are going to win this race in November, it will be because we pulled the party together and united people to inspire record levels of turnout through a transparent process that voters can believe in."
Morgan later tweeted: Today I asked the Ohio Democratic Party to remain neutral in our Senate race. They didn't listen. They will continue to tip the scales for our establishment opponent. It's official: it's us against the machine.
"The Democratic Party pays a lot of lip service to the ideas that women and people of color in particularly black women are the backbone of our party. Does that not also apply to the candidates who we choose to represent us or are we merely trying to win the votes of these communities," Harper said. "To be clear, I am not saying that the party should clear the field for me or anyone else, simply give us a fair shot. That is what Ohio is all about and let us run this race on the merits of our respective campaigns."
Harper is also still annoyed Ryan hasn't agreed to debate her.
"We are 75 days away from the primary election in the senate race and my opponent continues to play games," Harper said. "It is time for Tim Ryan to stop hiding and join me in debating the issues and meeting voters exactly where they're at."
Thursday, Ryan's campaign says he has agreed to a debate hosted by the Ohio Debate Commission on March 28th. There is one condition. Ryan says his appearance is contingent upon all candidates in the race be allowed to participate.
Traci Johnson is the other candidate in the race and it's unclear if she meets the Commission's debate criteria.
"A conditional acceptance is not an acceptance at all," Harper said. "They refuse to state whether they will agree to the Ohio Debate Commission's terms which are set by neutral arbiters, which apply to all the races in the state, not just this one, and which are more than fair. What is the holdup? I will debate any of the candidates in this race, anywhere, anytime. The voters deserve to hear from all the candidates as often as possible. The voters also deserve a fair primary process that has not been unfairly pre-determined by a state party apparatus."
A spokesperson for the Ryan campaign says they just want to be fair to all the candidates and said if Johnson is not allowed to be in the debate, then Ryan will not participate.
"We now have the Ohio Debate Commission, we have television stations in both Youngstown and Cincinnati that are excited to create forums to reach out to voters," Harper said. "We have not heard from Tim Ryan's campaign, a very simple answer of yes, to any of those opportunities and therefore we have no confirmed debates that he will be participating in."
