Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), the Democrat nominee for U.S. Senate in Ohio, traveled to Hollywood, California, on Wednesday to fundraise for his effort to defeat Republican nominee J.D. Vance.
A group of “Hollywood-esque type people who care about politics,” will attend the fundraiser, said organizer Jay Sures, vice chairman and board member at United Talent Agency.
Ryan will also headline a morning gathering on Thursday with other Hollywood elites, The Wrap reported. Multiple Hollywood actors and producers will attend both events.
As The Wrap reported:
Co-chairs at the event include UTA founding partner and board member Peter Benedek, Craig Hunegs, operating partner at private equity firm ZMC, and Hunegs’ wife Sara Goodman, a TV producer who worked on “Gossip Girl” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”
On Thursday, Ryan will headline a morning gathering co-hosted by actor Brian Tyler Cohen, comedian Howie Mandel and his wife Susan, “Seal Team” producer Sarah Timberman, “21 Jump Street” producer David Levinson and his wife Ellie Herman, a TV writer/producer who worked on “Jericho,” “Desperate Housewives” and “The $treet.”
Sures said his motivation for getting involved in the Ohio Senate race is because he does not like Vance, who former President Donald Trump endorses.
“I don’t like JD Vance. He’s a full-blown, election-denying Trump guy,” Sures told The Wrap.
Interestingly, Ryan used the “ongoing public health emergency” as an excuse to avoid voting on the House floor and to justify proxy voting while he traveled to Hollywood to raise money for his campaign.
“I am unable to physically attend proceedings in the House Chamber due to the ongoing public health emergency, and I hereby grant the authority to cast my vote by proxy to the Honorable Rep. Madeleine Dean (PA-4), who has agreed to serve as my proxy,” Ryan wrote the House Clerk in a letter sent Wednesday.
Rep. Ryan’s trip to Hollywood also came on the same day his campaign attacked Vance for “not usually” being in Ohio.
Vance’s campaign called Ryan a “shameless hypocrite” for accusing Vance of spending time out of Ohio while he fundraises in Hollywood.
“Once again, Tim Ryan has shown Ohio that he’s a shameless hypocrite. Ohioans should expect nothing less from a career politician who has spent 20 years in Washington with zero accomplishments to show for it,” Vance’s campaign spokesman told Breitbart News.
Vance and Ryan recently agreed to debate two times before November’s midterm election. The Senate candidates will debate each other once on October 10 and again one week later on October 17.
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.
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