Strickland empties campaign fund

The Republican 6th District candidate spent more than $500,000.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- It took a year, but U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, has essentially emptied his congressional campaign fund.
Financial disclosure reports released over the weekend show Strickland, of Lisbon, had $1,089 in his congressional fund as of June 30.
Strickland declared his gubernatorial candidacy in May 2005, and had $511,966 in his congressional fund as of June 30 of that year.
Strickland can't transfer his congressional funds to his gubernatorial campaign under state law.
Instead Strickland is depleting his congressional fund.
Of the $510,877 he's spent in the past year, Strickland gave $390,000 of it to the Ohio Democratic Party. The rest of the money went to Ohio Democratic candidates and for minor operating expenses.
The state Democratic party was more generous toward Strickland, giving $640,000 in cash to his gubernatorial committee between Jan. 2 and June 9 of this year. Overall, Strickland's gubernatorial committee has raised $6.2 million as of June 9.
"It's pretty standard for the state party to provide funding to its gubernatorial candidate," said Isaac Baker, a Strickland campaign spokesman.
With Strickland running for governor, his 6th Congressional District seat is up for grabs.
Those seeking to replace Strickland in the 12-county district in the November general election are state Rep. Chuck Blasdel, an East Liverpool Republican, and state Sen. Charlie Wilson, a St. Clairsville Democrat. They won in the May 2 primary.
Expenses
A report filed this weekend by Blasdel shows he spent $502,655 on the campaign through June 30. More than half of the money, $265,516, was spent between April 13 and June 30.
Blasdel paid $112,034 to Majority Communications Inc. of Columbus to print and mail campaign information to voters.
He also paid $12,000 to Anthem Media of Austin, Texas, for political consulting. Blasdel gave $12,404 to 3 Dog Consulting Ltd. of Alexandria, Va., and $8,725 to Casteel Consultants of Austin, both for fund-raising consulting.
Ryan M. Stenger is receiving $4,783 a month to serve as his campaign manager, and Jessica Towhey is receiving $3,327 a month as his campaign communications director.
Blasdel's three primary opponents spent about $115,000 combined.
Blasdel raised $779,810 for his campaign, including $182,798 between April 13 and June 30. Most of Blasdel's money came from political committees.
As of June 30, Blasdel had $277,155 on hand.
Wilson's campaign had $290,442 as of June 30. Wilson spent $1.02 million on his campaign. He ran as a write-in beating two opponents in the Democratic primary.
Wilson raised $1.31 million, including $552,709 of his own money, for his campaign through June 30.
Neither of Wilson's Democratic primary opponents filed campaign reports with the Federal Election Commission.
Candidates who spend and/or raise less than $5,000 don't have to file reports with the FEC.
skolnick@vindy.com