Liz Cheney Expresses Support for Ohio Democrat Tim Ryan in Tight Senate Race Against Far-Right J.D. Vance

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty; Scott Olson/Getty; Drew Angerer/Getty From left: Liz Cheney, Tim Ryan, J.D. Vance

Wyoming Republican Liz Cheney waded into Ohio's hotly contested Senate race, throwing her support behind the second Democrat in recent weeks by saying she would vote for current U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan if given the chance.

Ryan is facing Republican newcomer J.D. Vance, the 38-year-old author of the book Hillbilly Elegy and a former venture capitalist who has in recent months molded himself after former President Donald Trump (despite earlier harshly criticizing Trump).

Speaking on a PBS NewsHour panel in Cleveland this week, Cheney said she would not vote for Vance if she were an Ohio voter. Asked if she would vote for Ryan, Politico reports, she said, "I would."

That doesn't mean Cheney supports every Democrat in the state, though. In a follow-up, she said she supports Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine because, per a statement given to Politico by a spokesperson, "he's a good conservative governor, a traditional Republican, and respects the legitimacy of elections."

RELATED: Tim Ryan Calls Out J.D. Vance in Fiery Ohio Senate Debate: Trump 'Took His Dignity'

Vance won the Republican primary in Ohio largely due to an endorsement from former president Trump, and Trump himself has taken note, saying in a September rally: "J.D. is kissing my a--, he wants my support so much. I think he's running, J.D., on an 'I love Donald Trump' policy. Yeah, he said some bad things about me, but that's before he knew me, and then he fell in love."

In an October debate with Vance, 49-year-old Ryan seized on that comment, saying, "Just a few weeks ago in Youngstown, onstage, Donald Trump said to J.D. Vance: 'All you do is kiss my a-- to get my support.'"

SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty; Drew Angerer/Getty Tim Ryan (left), J.D. Vance

Ryan continued: "I don't know anybody I grew up with, I don't know anybody I went to high school with, that would allow someone to take their dignity like that and then get back up onstage. We need leaders who have courage to take on their own party. And I've proven that. And he was called an a--kisser by the former president."

Later in the debate, Ryan returned again to Trump's comment, saying, "I'm for Ohio. I don't kiss anyone's a-- like him. Ohio needs an a--kicker not an a--kisser."

RELATED: Republican Rep. Liz Cheney Wades into Michigan Congressional Race — by Endorsing Her First Democrat

Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, is a longtime Republican. Still, she faced punishment by those in her own party for voting to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and lost her own campaign for reelection in Wyoming earlier this year.

Cheney once chaired the House Republican Conference, the third-highest position in the House GOP leadership, from 2019 to 2021, but Republicans in Wyoming voted to strip her of her party affiliation last November.

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Cheney endorsed a Democrat for the first time last month, throwing her support behind Rep. Elissa Slotkin in the race for representative of Michigan's 7th Congressional District — a race that appears to be a toss-up at this point.

Asked on the PBS panel whether she might endorse other Democrats in coming weeks, Cheney said only "possibly."

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