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After months of speculation, Northeast Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan is running for president. Ryan announced his plans before an appearance on The View Thursday morning.

Ryan joins a crowded fielded of , plus a few likely candidates, including former Vice President Joe Biden and California Congressman Eric Swalwell.

The 45-year-old, eight-term congressman from the Youngstown area says on his that he plans to focus on public education, health care and the economy.

In his appearance on The View, Ryan focused on two themes: repairing a divided country and stopping the loss of blue collar jobs.

鈥淭his has been going on a long time, our country has been divided for a long time,鈥� said Ryan. 鈥淎nd I can go back to the late 1970s when my father-in-law lost his job when Youngstown Sheet and Tube closed.鈥�

Ryan came to some national prominence in 2016 when for leadership of the House Democratic caucus. The bid failed, but he was able to win 63 votes.  

Clare Malone, , said Ryan鈥檚 an interesting candidate because of his outspoken opposition to Pelosi and calls for more outreach to blue collar voters on the one hand.

鈥淏ut, on the other hand, he does have a voting record that鈥檚 pretty liberal for his district,鈥� said Malone.

She added that there鈥檚 also a surprising side to Ryan. For instance, he鈥檚 written a book .

鈥淲here a lot of people probably just assume, well, it鈥檚 Tim Ryan. And he鈥檚 from Jim Traficant鈥檚 old district. This guy鈥檚 obviously going to be a certain kind of politician,鈥� Malone said, referring to the . 鈥淏ut you know he could confound people鈥檚 expectations in a very interesting way.鈥�

Ryan has spent his time in Congress focused on labor issues and was an outspoken critic of General Motors鈥� recent decision to close a plant in Lordstown, Ohio.

David Cohen, a political scientist at the University of Akron's Bliss Institute, has watched Ryan鈥檚 career for years and said the congressman鈥檚 understanding of trade and manufacturing issues shouldn鈥檛 be underestimated.

鈥淎nd he鈥檚 also a really good campaigner. He鈥檚 great on the stump,鈥� Cohen said. 鈥淗e is somebody that can get a crowd riled up. He鈥檚 very good speaking with a prepared speech but particularly off-the-cuff.鈥�

According to Cohen, had Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown entered the race, he would have run on a similar pro-labor platform. But his decision to stay out opened the door for Ryan.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 probably the moment he started to really think seriously about getting into the race,鈥� said Cohen.

But, according to Malone, in a Democratic field that could grow to as many as 20 candidates, it鈥檚 impossible to guess who will make it deep into the race.

鈥淚 think that Ryan also faces a lot of pretty stiff competition in the form of somebody like, say, Joe Biden, who will probably get into the race, someone like Beto O鈥橰ourke or Pete Buttigieg,鈥� said Malone. 鈥淪o I think he鈥檚 going to have an interesting, if a bit tough, climb into this race.鈥�

The first of . To qualify, Ryan will need to either poll above one percent in three polls or meet established by the Democratic National Committee.