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Ex-Gov. Strickland raised $672K to start U.S. Senate campaign
YOUNGSTOWN
Former Gov. Ted Strickland’s U.S. Senate campaign raised $671,073 during the year’s first quarter — about $100,000 less than his potential Democratic primary opponent.
Cincinnati Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld, also vying to be the Democratic nominee in the 2016 Senate race, raised $757,043 in contributions during the first quarter.
Both Democrats raised considerably less than U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, the Republican incumbent seeking his second six-year term next year. Portman received $2.75 million in contributions between Jan. 1 and March 31.
Though the first quarter takes in the first three months of the year, Strickland raised money for about half that time.
Strickland started raising money Feb. 16 and publicly announced his candidacy Feb. 25. The money came from 1,543 donors.
The ex-governor raised $469,601 during the final two weeks of the fundraising period, according to his campaign.
“In a very short period of time, we’ve seen an outpouring of support for Ted all across Ohio,” said Rebecca Pearcey, his campaign manager. “We fully expect the momentum we’ve seen in the past several weeks to continue.”
Strickland barely spent any of the money with $649,171 cash on hand as of March 31, according to his campaign.
Republicans pounced on Strickland’s fundraising announcement.
“It’s hard to imagine Strickland could have posted a more underwhelming number than this,” said Corry Bliss, Portman’s campaign manager.
After raising $2.75 million in the first three months of the year, Portman had more than $8 million in his campaign fund as of March 31.
“For weeks, Ohio and national Democrats have been propping up Strickland’s campaign with endorsements, but Strickland’s awful fundraising numbers indicate a lack of support from voters and donors,” said Chris Schrimpf, Ohio Republican Party spokesman.
Sittenfeld raised $757,043 in the first quarter, but started receiving money Jan. 22, the day he announced his candidacy, said Dale Butland, his campaign spokesman. “This puts P.G.’s achievement into perspective,” Butland said. “It shows there’s a real hunger out there for new leadership and fresh faces. For all his superior name identification, institutional support and high-profile endorsements, Gov. Strickland raised about $100,000 less than P.G.”
A recent poll shows Strickland ahead of Portman by 9 percentage points, and Sittenfeld 20 percentage points behind the incumbent.