Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan wants to be the presidential candidate who can appeal to “yoga moms” and blue-collar workers — and judging by his second-quarter fund-raising, he has a smattering of support from both.
Mr. Ryan’s $890,000 haul positions him second-to-last among the 20 candidates who qualified for the first round of Democratic debates, leaving him little in the way of resources to sustain him in the race against a top tier of candidates who each raised over $10 million in the last three months.
Mr. Ryan raised more than former Maryland Rep. John Delaney ($300,000) but less than New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio ($1.1 million). He also raised less than spiritual author Marianne Williamson ($1.5 million), perhaps his closest competitor in the wellness space.
Still, those who did contribute to the northeast Ohioan’s presidential campaign demonstrate the cross section of supporters making up his base.
Among his most notable donors is New Age guru Deepak Chopra, who gave Mr. Ryan’s campaign $1,000. Mr. Chopra is listed on Mr. Ryan’s campaign finance report as an author at the Chopra Center in California, which didn’t respond to a request for comment. Another person associated with Mr. Chopra’s wellness empire gave $800.
Mr. Ryan is known nationally in the yoga and wellness communities. In 2012, he released A Mindful Nation, a self-help book promoting the practice of staying rooted in the present moment. He followed up two years later with The Real Food Revolution.
Mr. Ryan also practices hot yoga, held in rooms heated to 100 degrees. He’s known for touting its benefits outside the studio.
“Here I am, an old quarterback from outside of Youngstown, Ohio, who’s in Congress — blue-collar town, blue-collar kid, blue-collar family — and I’m sitting here talking about yoga. Why? Because it works,” he said in a recent MSNBC segment.
His Ohio donors include the owner of a yoga studio in Youngstown, PūrYoga, where he was filmed practicing and sweating in the segment. Instructors from studios around Columbus also tossed his campaign a few hundred dollars, his finance disclosure shows.
Between April and July, Mr. Ryan racked up 318 itemized contributions from Ohioans totaling almost $300,000, according to Federal Elections Commission data.
Itemized contributions reflect only donors who have given campaigns more than $200. Campaigns are not required to disclose donors who contribute less, so a donor who gives a campaign $25 won’t be revealed unless they’ve contributed multiple times.
In Ohio, Mr. Ryan received big dollars from Michael Siegal, executive chairman and former CEO of northeast Ohio-based Olympic Steel, who gave his campaign the maximum individual contribution of $2,800. He also received the maximum amount from the two chairmen of Akron-based GOJO Industries, Marcella Kanfer Rolnick and Joseph Kanfer. GOJO makes hygiene and skin care products, including Purell hand sanitizer.
Bruce Zoldan, president and CEO of Phantom Fireworks, the Youngstown company that donated equipment and personnel to President Trump’s Fourth of July military commemoration in Washington, gave the Ryan campaign $2,700.
Mr. Ryan also received itemized donations from supporters who listed their occupations as teachers, firefighters, and contractors.
The campaign announced its first fund-raising figures since Mr. Ryan entered the race in April in a news release late Friday night. He raised nearly $900,000 through 13,000 donors, the campaign said.
Democratic candidates could qualify for the first debates by hitting 65,000 donors, or by registering 1 percent in three polls. Mr. Ryan qualified based on polling.
“We are continuing to build momentum and in the coming weeks Tim looks forward to bringing his ideas to the second debate stage in Detroit. Our message about the anxiety felt by working class Americans is resonating,” said Brad Bauman, a senior communications adviser for the campaign.
First Published July 17, 2019, 5:57 p.m.
