Portman, Strickland escalate attacks as race heads into homestretch

Donald Trump was nominated in the state three weeks ago, but Republican Sen. Rob Portman and Democratic former Gov. Ted Strickland are locked in a tight fight for one of Ohio’s two Senate seats. With less than three months to go, they are stepping up attacks on each other.

On Monday, the Ohio Democratic Party released a new memo highlighting their lines of criticism against Portman, many of which are familiar from previous campaigns. The Portman camp responded with allegations of their own, including one connecting the former governor to a ponzi scheme.

“Ted Strickland has enough baggage to sink the Titanic,” Portman campaign manager Corry Bliss told the Washington Examiner. “He has no money. He has no grassroots support. Ted Strickland has no political home.”

Bliss noted a number of key groups backing Portman over Strickland, including the state’s Fraternal Order of Police, United Mine Workers and the Teamsters. All three supported the former governor in past elections.

Money has also become a factor, with Portman having significantly outraised his opponent and been a constant presence on television since late May, when his campaign announced a $15 million ad buy through election day. The ads, which have been reinforced by outside groups, seem to have hurt Strickland’s image with voters.

Strickland’s campaign pushed back by noting their extensive list of union endorsements and their built-in structural and organizational advantages, such as Hillary Clinton having more of a presence in Ohio than Trump. They also argue that the ads haven’t had much of an impact on the polls, which continue to show a tight race. Strickland supporters emphasize Portman’s record on trade, since the Republican served as a U.S. trade representative under the Bush administration and supported various trade agreements.

“Sen. Portman and his allies have spent over $30 million against Ted and they’ve failed to put this race away,” Strickland spokesman David Bergstein said in a statement. “Now we’re entering the stage of the campaign where more Ohioans will start learning about the central contrast in this race: Ted is fighting for working people because that’s where he comes from and that’s who he cares about — while Sen. Portman is pushing the agenda of his rich and powerful friends at Ohio’s expense.”

“Meanwhile, the national environment is rapidly deteriorating around Portman, he’s engulfed in a daily firestorm about his continued support for Trump, and he’s facing a statewide, coordinated campaign infrastructure with no help from his own top of the ticket,” Bergstein said. “The truth is that Senator Portman represents exactly what Ohioans don’t like about Washington.”

With just $3.7 million in cash on hand, Strickland’s announced Wednesday that they will be hit the airwaves for the first time in the contest, with their first ad focusing on his biography — a move the Portman camp argues is one out of panic.

National Republicans remain bullish about Portman’s chances, arguing that he has set himself up to potentially thwart the problems presented by Trump, namely pointing to his organization and the clean campaign he has run thus far. However, they remain concerned about the Trump factor, which is the major unknown heading into the homestretch.

“It’s certainly something I have concern about,” said Doug Heye, a former RNC communications director, referring to Trump’s effect of Senate races. “But Portman has run a really good race, and I think we’re seeing tangible signs of that.

“Portman, thus far, is doing what a lot of people might think is impossible for a Republican this year, which is building a broad coalition of Republicans and Democrats and independents, which is certainly difficult in the age of Trump,” Heye said, pointing to the union endorsements.

According to the latest RealClearPolitics average, Portman leads the former governor by a 4-point margin, with the most recent poll (NBC/WSJ/Marist) putting the incumbent Republican up by 5 points (48-43).