Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, criticized the Democratic Party for its poor record of "strategic political decisions" and general leadership.
The senate hopeful alluded to the lack of support from the party in his battle against Republican J.D. Vance. Ryan said, if victorious, he's achieved a "level of independence."
"That national Democratic Party has never really been good at strategic political decisions," Ryan said to CNN about the lack of support directed toward his race. "Thank God that I have enough experience that I built this campaign not needing them, and we really don't want them at this point."
The race between Ryan and Vance remains close, with Vance having a 2.7 percentage point lead, according to FiveThirtyEight. With a little more firepower Ryan implied that he could regain the lead, but Democrats remain primarily focused on other races like the New York gubernatorial election.
Vice President Kamala Harris, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Hillary Clinton plan to hold a rally Thursday to support Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., who has a 7.2 percentage point lead over Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., according to FiveThirtyEight.
Ryan stated he didn't invite President Joe Biden on the campaign trail because he was "really not inviting anybody."
"That national Democrats' problem is that a woman who's having economic problems just outside of Toledo, Ohio, is looking to the Republican Party for some help," Ryan told CNN. "And the Republican Party is doing nothing but defending extremists who want to overthrow the government and undermine our democracy. That's a problem the national Democratic Party has."
Ryan, who has served 10 terms, has suggested Biden shouldn't run for reelection and has been at odds with Democrats about the upper chamber's leadership, student loan forgiveness, Title 42 expulsion program, and other issues.
In 2016 he unsuccessfully challenged Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for party leadership in the House.
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