Kevin Ryan is a public school teacher, Marine Corps veteran, and one of several candidates in a crowded Democratic primary race for the US Senate seat that will be vacated by retiring senator Dick Durbin in 2026. Speaking at the Southern Illinois Democratic Candidate Reception on Thursday, Ryan talked about the key ways his campaign differs from those of his opponents: he does not seek out large dollar donations, and he visits and talks to voters in-person all across the state of Illinois.
Using a repurposed school bus as his campaign headquarters, Ryan has so far visited 100 of Illinois’ 102 counties to meet with voters. His visit to the dinner on Thursday marked his third time speaking in Marion County. Ryan says this grassroots effort is what’s needed to compete with campaigns that spend millions of dollars on advertising.
“When you look at campaign money, the vast majority of it goes towards ads and media buys,” Ryan said. “When you cut all that out and just focus on operations, it becomes much more manageable. We have a small group of paid staff, we have volunteers, and people who are ideologically driven behind this campaign… that’s how a campaign should work. You raise what you need to go and talk to the voters instead of just spending all your time fundraising out of state to buy ads that you just bombard people with. That’s not campaigning.”
As a self-described “New Deal” Democrat, Ryan says America’s growing wealth gap is the greatest source of the country’s problems. Ryan believes the law needs to be changed to remove the influence of money on US politics that gives the rich disproportionate power:
“Our democracy has reached a critical failure. The very few in this country with tremendous wealth control our politics while the majority of Americans cannot afford to live. We must renew our party by re-mooring ourselves to our New Deal roots. To make our government work for all of us, not just the one percent. That begins by removing the corrupting influence of money in our politics.”
Ryan also promotes ranked-choice voting as a way to empower voters and ensure competitive elections.
While his policies are considered progressive, Ryan says his proposals have been well-received as he’s gone around Illinois talking to rural voters.
“It’s a winning message, it really is,” Ryan said. “I think it just takes Democrats showing up and talking to conservative voters in a very human way and realizing that we all want the same thing. In a hundred counties I’ve been in, not a single person is happy with their health insurance. You just talk to them, and it’s a winning issue, but we have to go out there and talk to them. We can’t let them just get this information from Fox News or conservative media.”
Ryan asked those in attendance at the dinner to consider volunteering for his campaign, saying that volunteers are essential to get the campaign’s message out to voters.
