Wednesday, February 25, 2015
YOUNGSTOWN
Former Gov. Ted Strickland will announce this morning that he is a candidate for the 2016 U.S. Senate seat, multiple sources close to him confirmed.
Strickland, a Democrat, and his campaign team decided Tuesday to make an official announcement today, the sources said.
Dennis Willard, who serves as Strickland’s spokesman, initially declined Tuesday to comment. But he later emailed that Strickland would make an announcement by email at 9 a.m. today “regarding his potential run for the U.S. Senate in 2016.”
The Vindicator exclusively reported on its website, vindy.com, on Jan. 30 that Strickland had told close political allies and high-level national donors that he was running for the position.
The newspaper also was first to report Feb. 17 that Strickland had actively started soliciting campaign contributions. He raised about $125,000 to $150,000 on Feb. 16 and likely has raised more than $500,000 by now.
Cincinnati Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld announced Jan. 22 he would seek the Democratic nomination for Senate next year, is raising money and has put together a campaign team. His campaign Tuesday repeated an earlier statement that Sittenfeld “admires” Strickland “but is focused on his own campaign.”
The seat is held by Republican Rob Portman, who will seek a second six-year term in 2016 after initially considering a potential bid for the presidency. He has $5.8 million in his campaign fund and the endorsement of nearly every prominent Republican in Ohio.
Since the Jan. 30 vindy.com report, state and national Republicans have criticized Strickland almost daily. Republicans primarily have accused Strickland of no longer supporting coal or gun rights largely based on his 11 months as president of the left-leaning Center for American Progress Action Fund. Strickland resigned from the center job Friday.
A former six-term U.S. House member, Strickland was elected governor in 2006 easily defeating Republican J. Kenneth Blackwell, then the secretary of state. He lost a re-election bid in 2010 by two percentage points to Republican John Kasich.