Bush, Cheney helped DeWine campaign

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A GOP senator from Ohio who has emphasized his independence has used two major fundraisers by the president and vice president to stretch his re-election campaign's financial edge over his likely Democratic opponent.
Sen. Mike DeWine's campaign said Monday it raised $2.3 million from Jan. 1 to April 12, giving it $5.2 million to spend in what is expected to be one of the closest Senate races in the country.
Challenger Sherrod Brown, a seven-term Democratic congressman from the Akron area, raised an estimated $1.3 million in contributions in the quarter, bringing his estimated cash on hand to $2.8 million. But DeWine raised nearly as much, $1.1 million, in one February night at a suburban Cincinnati dinner with President Bush.
An event with Vice President Dick Cheney in January was expected to raise another $100,000 for DeWine. Details about donations weren't available because Ohio candidates' reports aren't due to the Federal Election Commission until Thursday, several days after the deadline for much of the rest of the nation because of the state's early May 2 primary.