October 4, 2016 | No Comments
Ohio GOP Sen. Rob Portman is showing no signs of slowing down in his reelection campaign despite a widening lead over former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, on Tuesday posting his best fundraising quarter of the cycle.
Portman raised $4.5 million in the third quarter, campaign aides said, leaving him $7.6 million on hand. That’s significantly less than Portman had at the end of last quarter, but he’s in the midst of a massive $15 million ad buy. He has no plans to scale that air campaign back despite his lead, campaign sources said, and he’s attempting to blow out Strickland by as much as possible.
Of the money raised by Portman this summer, $3.5 million is for the campaign and $1 million for the Ohio Republican Party. That could come in handy for the state GOP as Donald Trump leads in the Buckeye State, though not as much as Portman. Portman is up 13 points on Strickland while Trump leads Hillary Clinton by about 4 points in Ohio.
With that daunting deficit, many of Strickland’s allies have pulled back their spending. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Senate Majority PAC have slashed all their remaining ads except for the last two weeks of the election, but many Democrats expect those spots will also be cut and reallocated to more competitive races in North Carolina, Missouri and Indiana.
In a statement, Portman campaign manager Corry Bliss said that “as Democrats pull support from Ted Strickland’s failing campaign and non-existent field program, people across Ohio support Rob because he is getting results for Ohio families.”
Strickland’s campaign declined to provide the Democrat’s most recent fundraising numbers. Through June, Portman had raised about twice as much money as Strickland.
“Every dollar that Senator Portman raises from his rich and powerful friends is just another reminder that he is doing nothing in Washington except pushing the agenda of the wealthy and the well-connected at the expense of Ohioans who actually work for a living,” said David Bergstein, a spokesman for Strickland.