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Cincinnati councilman says he’ll run for U.S. Senate next year
YOUNGSTOWN
U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican seeking re-election next year, said Cincinnati Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld, who announced he’ll challenge the incumbent, 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. On Thursday, he said he would seek the Democratic nomination in next year’s primary.
“I can mount a strong, competitive race,” Sittenfeld said Thursday in an interview 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.”
Sittenfeld criticized Portman, who resides in the Cincinnati area, for his time serving as President George W. Bush’s U.S. trade representative and director of the Office of Management and Budget. Portman is serving his first six-year term in the Senate, winning the seat in the November 2010 election.
When asked to respond during a Thursday conference call with Ohio journalists, Portman, 59, said, “I expect to hear all that and more,” adding that he is “really proud of my record.”
Other Democrats — most notably ex-Gov. Ted Strickland and U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th — are considering runs against Portman but haven’t made decisions yet.
Sittenfeld said he’s spoken to Strickland about his plan to run as the Democratic nominee. Sittenfeld declined to discuss whether he’d stay in the race if Strickland opts to run.
Portman’s campaign announced earlier this month that he had $5.8 million in his re-election fund and the endorsements of about 250 Republicans, including numerous elected officeholders.
Sittenfeld said he’ll have enough money to challenge Portman.
“I expect it to be a very competitive, high-turnout race” in 2016, a presidential-election year, he said. “I look forward to running a strong, winning race.”
Sittenfeld added that he’s not concerned about the poor showing of Democrats in last year’s statewide election.
Portman said he doesn’t know much about Sittenfeld, but added, “In a state like Ohio, you’ve got to expect a competitive race.”
Also Thursday, Portman announced members of his senior campaign team.