Staff Reports
The Ohio Senate race is heating up, and Democratic incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown is starting off strong with a whopping $8.7 million cash on hand for his reelection campaign. That’s more money than all of his three Republican primary challengers combined! Talk about an impressive war chest.
Sen. Sherrod Brown has more cash on hand than his three GOP competitors combined https://t.co/199PzyKfag
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) July 20, 2023
But let’s not forget where that money is coming from. Brown raised $5 million in the second quarter, with a quarter of that coming from little donors who contributed $200 or less. That’s a sign of strong grassroots support, and it’s definitely something Republicans should be worried about.
Now, here’s the thing. Despite Brown’s advantages as an incumbent, with name recognition and high approval ratings on his side, this race is going to be a real challenge for him. Why? Well, because Ohio is getting redder and redder, and Brown is a proud progressive. You can bet that Senate Republicans are salivating at the chance to take down this unabashed left-winger and regain control of the upper chamber.
But here’s where it gets interesting. The National Republican Senatorial Committee, the GOP’s Senate campaign arm, is staying out of the Ohio primary. They’re letting the candidates duke it out among themselves, which is a bit unusual. Usually, they step in to make sure only the best and most electable candidate makes it to the general election. But not this time. It’s like they’re leaving it up to fate. Or maybe they’re just not thrilled with any of the options.
Speaking of options, let’s take a look at the Republicans in the race. State Sen. Matt Dolan has reported $3.9 million cash on hand, but the thing is, he only raised a little over $300,000 in the last quarter. Ouch. Looks like he had to dip into his own pockets and donate $4 million to his campaign. Talk about desperate.
Then there’s Bernie Moreno, an Ohio businessman with ties to former President Donald Trump. He raised $2.2 million, which is not too shabby, but still far behind Brown’s numbers.
And finally, we have Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose. Now, we don’t have his second-quarter FEC filings yet because he announced his candidacy after the filing deadline. But this guy has been raising money through a super PAC for months, so we can expect him to bring in some big bucks for the next quarter.
In the end, it’s clear that Brown has a significant advantage in terms of fundraising. But let’s not count out the Republicans just yet. With the race being in Ohio, a state that is shifting more and more towards the right, anything can happen. And who doesn’t love a good underdog story?
