Strickland raises $1 million to close 2015
WASHINGTON — It’s not a Powerball-sized jackpot, but the cash is piling up quickly in Ohio’s U.S. Senate race.
Former Gov. Ted Strickland’s campaign announced Tuesday that the Democrat had raised more than $1 million in the last three months of 2015 and ended the year with about $2 million in the bank.
P.G. Sittenfeld reported raising less than a quarter of that, $235,000, in the last quarter and said he had $785,000 in cash on Dec. 31. But the Cincinnati city councilman’s campaign said it would also be counting on support from a pro-Sittenfeld super PAC, which said it had raised more than $700,000 in 2015.
Strickland and Sittenfeld will be facing off in Ohio’s March 15 primary for the Democratic nomination. The winner will likely face GOP Sen. Rob Portman, who hit a fundraising bonanza in 2015. Portman reported raising $2.1 million in the final three months of 2015 and said he started the 2016 election year with more than $12 million in the bank.
That’s more than double the $5 million cash total Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, had at this point in the 2012 race. Brown’s GOP opponent, State Treasurer Josh Mandel, had about $4 million in the bank at the close of 2011. The Brown-Mandel matchup was one of the most expensive races in the nation in the 2012 election cycle, with the two candidates spending a combined $32 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan watchdog group.
Portman’s campaign said his 2015 totals also outpaced off-year fundraising hauls for Ohio’s recent gubernatorial candidates. And he raised more than other Senate incumbents facing a competitive race.
The outcome in the Ohio race could determine which party controls the Senate in 2017. Democrats need a net gain of five Senate seats to wrest back the majority, or four seats if they also win the White House.
"Raising nearly $10 million in an off-year is not only a record in Ohio, it is a testament to the strong support for Rob," said Portman's campaign manager, Corry Bliss.
Portman, long known as a powerhouse fundraiser, will likely need a mountain of money for what is expected to an expensive, bruising election battle. Strickland is heavily favored to win the Democratic nomination, and polls show a neck-and-neck race between the former governor and the current senator.
The campaigns do not have to file their detailed campaign finance reports until Jan. 31, so specific data about the candidates’ top donors is not yet available. But Portman’s biggest contributors in the past have been individuals working in big investment firms, such as Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, and major corporations, such as General Electric and Procter & Gamble.