The number of political ads set to air across Ohio just decreased, dramatically.
With the presidential race heating up, national Democrats and Republican-friendly corporate interests are cancelling millions of dollars in ad buys as the race between incumbent Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican, and former Gov. Ted Strickland appears to be getting out of reach for the Democrat, who’s trailed in the polls since early June.
Portman has plenty of campaign cash to outlast his opponent. He raised more than any congressional candidates in the nation. And as poll after poll shows Portman’s leading growing, all the outside groups that have made Ohio ground zero for political spending are considering dumping their resources into more competitive congressional races in other swing states, like North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
Outside groups backed by billionaire brother Charles and David Koch announced this week that they would be cancelling $2 million in ads to support Portman. The Senate Majority PAC, another outside group with close ties to retiring Senate majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada, also withdrew ad buys.
On Friday, the Washington Post reported national Democrats signaled even less confidence in the race as the Senate Majority PAC and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, or DSCC, canceled another round of ads set to air Sept. 13.
However, help is on the way for Strickland in the form of U.S. senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Warren will attend a Sept. 17 fundraiser in Cleveland on behalf of Strickland, according to media reports. And Sanders asked his supporters to donate $2.70 each to Strickland and three other Democratic Senate candidates.
Strickland campaign spokesman David Bergstein dismissed cold feet by outside spenders as an indication that the race is out of his candidate’s reach, especially with two months of hard campaigning ahead.
“There’s still a lot of race left to run, and there’s no one who knows Ohio better or is a stronger grassroots campaigner than Ted Strickland,” Bergstein said in an email. “We just recently launched our paid media campaign, the national environment is rapidly deteriorating around Portman. …
“Portman’s small, weak field operation can’t compete with the Ohio Democratic Party’s coordinated field campaign which has hundreds of organizers and volunteers across the state working to elect Ted, Secretary Clinton and Democrats at every level.
“Ted’s going to do what he does best: campaign vigorously across Ohio, talking about the central contrast in this race — he’s fighting for working people because [that’s] where he comes from and that’s who he cares about, while Senator Portman is looking out for his rich and powerful friends.”
Portman has continually said he’s running his own campaign, not concerned about what Trump says or whether they appear together when the campaigns intersect in Ohio.
Strickland, nonetheless, has attempted to tie Portman to Trump.
Seemingly unphased, Portman’s campaign, with thousands of volunteers and $10 million more in cash than Strickland’s, has claimed to have touched 3.5 million voters, or about 62 percent of the 5.6 million who voted in 2012 when Ohio last elected a senator and president in the same year.
Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @ABJDoug.