Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will headline a big dollar fundraiser Monday night for Ohio Senate candidate Rep. Tim Ryan, in what will be her first fundraising event since the 2020 election cycle.
The fundraising event, which will be held on Zoom, was first announced by the Ryan campaign Jan. 18. The minimum donation for admission is $2,900, and donors can become event co-chairs for $20,800. Ryan is the presumptive Democratic nominee in the race to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman, although he does face a left-wing primary opponent in former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau employee Morgan Harper.
Hillary Clinton to campaign for Rep. @TimRyan, D-Ohio, at a January 31 Senate campaign fundraiser where you’ll need $2,900 to get in the door. pic.twitter.com/3AmhLMNJr5
— Dave Levinthal (@davelevinthal) January 18, 2022
Both Hillary and Bill Clinton are reportedly looking forward to playing a renewed role in Democratic Party politics. Hillary Clinton participated in two fundraisers for then-candidates Joe Biden and Kamala Harris during the 2020 election cycle, although she was ultimately overshadowed by fundraising surrogates like Stacey Abrams and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Bill Clinton hosted a fundraiser in August 2021 for Virginia gubernatorial candidate and longtime ally Terry McAuliffe. McAuliffe chaired Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. (RELATED: Trump Calls Democratic VA Candidate Terry McAuliffe Bill Clinton’s ‘Bagman’ In Youngkin Endorsement)
Hillary Clinton’s continued interest in party politics is “about being relevant and people seeing [her and Bill] as a net positive, not a net negative,” a former campaign bundler for the Clintons reportedly told Politico.
Several former Clinton advisers have suggested that Hillary Clinton would consider a 2024 presidential run. Douglas Schoen, whose business partner served as chief political strategist on Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign, argued in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that the former New York senator could serve as a moderate alternative during the 2024 primaries. Former White House adviser and current Newsmax contributor Dick Morris claimed that there is a “good chance” that the 2024 presidential election will feature a Clinton-Donald Trump rematch.
Neither pundit has been employed by the Clintons in more than a decade.
Clinton spoke out against the farthest-left members of the Democratic Party in late December, claiming that politicians should engage in “careful thinking about what wins elections, and not just in deep-blue districts where a Democrat and a liberal Democrat, or so-called progressive Democrat, is going to win.”
Ryan has portrayed himself as a relative moderate and, during his brief run for president, frequently criticized Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ proposal to eliminate private health insurance. However, he announced in June 2021 that he would vote to eliminate the filibuster to pass several pieces of left-wing legislation, most notably an elections nationalization bill.