Cincy councilman to run for US Senate against Portman

YOUNGSTOWN — U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican seeking re-election next year, said Cincinnati Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld, who announced today he’ll challenge the incumbent next year, is the first of “a bunch of Democrats [who] will run.”

Sittenfeld, first elected to Cincinnati council in 2011, has mulled a Senate run for several months. He said today he would seek the Democratic nomination in next year’s primary.

“I can mount a strong competitive race,” Sittenfeld said in an interview today with The Vindicator. “I want to make Ohio a place where if people work hard, they can realize their dreams. There’s an overwhelming sense that Washington is not helping the middle class.”

Sittenfeld, 30, called Portman “a creature of Washington,” explaining that “if you spend more than a quarter of a century in Washington, you lose touch with Ohio.” Portman, who resides in the Cincinnati area, has actually been in Washington for 18 years.

Sittenfeld criticized Portman for his time serving as President George W. Bush’s U.S. trade representative, and director of the Office of Management and Budget.

When asked to respond, Portman, 59, said, “I expect to hear all that and more,” adding that he is “really proud of my record.”

For the complete story, read Friday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com