evidence: Tim Ryan might be a dream Democratic candidate in Ohio. But he will need a lot of luck. [...] "I would argue that Tim Ryan is one of the most skilled candidates of his generation," says Andrew Ginther, the Democratic mayor of Columbus. "There is no place in Ohio where Tim can go where he won’t connect with folks—whether it’s a church, a labor hall, a corporate boardroom." [...] Political strategists love to invoke the refrain that candidates matter. And since the 2016 presidential election, a segment of the Democratic Party has pushed for politicians in the mold of Ryan, 48, to help the left regain ground in the Rust Belt and among the non-college-educated working class. Yet it’s not clear whether even the optimal Democratic candidate, conveying the most targeted message and running the smoothest campaign, will be enough to win in the current midterm year in Ohio, a state some Democrats believe has fallen out of their reach for the foreseeable future.