Ohio Sen. Rob Portman announced Tuesday that his campaign raised $4.5 million in the third fundraising quarter and has more than $7 million in the bank for the final month before the elections.
In a press release, Portman said that he released $3.5 million for his own re-election bid and an additional $1 million for the Ohio Republican Party through the Portman Victory Committee. Overall, Portman has $7.6 million in cash on hand to put toward the final month in the race against former Gov. Ted Strickland, who he has broken away from over the past two months.
Throughout his campaign, Portman has been a fundraising juggernaut, having raised nearly $8 million for his re-election bid in 2016 alone. Since launching his campaign for a second U.S. Senate term, Portman has raised close to $18 million altogether.
“The momentum behind Rob continues to grow as we set both Ohio fundraising and grassroots records having recently surpassed 4 million voter contacts,” campaign manager Corry Bliss said in a statement. “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. Voters across the state know they simply can’t afford a return to Ted Strickland’s Ohio when the state lost more than 350,000 jobs and ranked 48th in the country in job creation.”
For the past four months, Portman’s campaign has been a constant presence on the airwaves after announcing a $15 million ad buy in May through Election Day. He has also run a disciplined campaign and, largely, his own race in an enigmatic year politically with Donald Trump at the top of the ticket. However, Portman surely is benefiting from Trump’s success in the Buckeye State, where he leads former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by nearly 4 points, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average.
As for Portman, he holds a massive lead over Strickland with just over a month until Election Day. He leads the former governor by 13 points, according to the latest RCP average, as Democratic groups continue to pull and reallocate funds out of Ohio ahead of Nov. 8.
Throughout his campaign, Strickland has struggled to keep up financially with the incumbent Republican. Strickland raised $1.9 million for his campaign in the last fundraising quarter and had only $4 million in cash on hand. The Strickland campaign has not announced their fundraising numbers for the third quarter.
