SUPER TUESDAY | Strickland on his way to winning Democratic primary for U.S. Senate seat

YOUNGSTOWN — With a 50-percentage-point lead, ex-Gov. Ted Strickland is on his way to winning the Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat.

Strickland, who used to represent portions of the Mahoning Valley while in Congress, said, "I am honored to have earned your vote, your trust and your nomination. I am running to fight for Ohio's working people because that's where I came from, that's who I care about and that's who I will stand up for in the U.S. Senate."

The campaign of Cincinnati Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld couldn't get any traction with his campaign unable to raise money to be competitive once Strickland got in the race. Polls showed his name ID to be extremely low, and a push to air commercials in the final two weeks of the campaign didn't help.

Meanwhile, Strickland never advertised and hardly campaigned for the seat until a few weeks ago saying he was focused on the general election and beating Rob Portman, the Republican incumbent.

Strickland picked up several major endorsements including President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, former President Bill Clinton and the Ohio Democratic Party.

"Today brings us one step closer to electing Ted to fight for Ohio's working families in the U.S. Senate and defeating Sen. Portman and the Washington power brokers and wealthy special interests he serves," said Ohio Democratic Party Executive Director Greg Beswick.

Portman had an opponent in the Republican primary, but campaigned even less than Strickland. Portman, too, easily won his party's primary tonight.

Portman said, "We can't let Ted Strickland win. It is time to show Ohio and the national Democrats that we are united to defeat Ted Strickland in November."