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Ohio Fundraising Update

Submitted by Matt Hurley on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 12:15
in

(Promoted: Great summary)

In this week's post, I wanted to bring everybody up to date on the latest news on Ohio's races which, for this week, means fundraising...

OH-01: Rep. Steve Chabot who has $1,311,547. His Democratic challenger, Steve Driehaus, has a total of $631,440 in the bank. (The Point). Chabot is a fundraising machine and is one of the hardest working campaigners in the business.

OH-02: Rep. Jean Schmidt $301,462 this quarter and $858,081 for this cycle with $392,028.05 on hand. Team Schmidt has done a pretty good job of fundraising in what has been a difficult climate. Schmidt has more cash on hand and nearly outraised her opponent, Vic Wulsin, this quarter. (WMD)

OH-03: Rep. Turner has outraised Jane Mitakides this quarter ($176,250 to $156,964.11) and has more cash on hand ($596,171 to $130,566.49). (Jessica Wehrman, Dayton Daily News) Dayton's former mayor is running a fine campaign and looks to be in pretty good shape to take it to the finish line once again.

OH-04: Rep. Jim Jordan is crushing labor union candidate Mike Carroll. Jordan raised $627,924 in second quarter and has $433,838 cash on hand. Carroll has managed to scrape together $11,486 in this quarter, but only has $2,298 cash on hand. (PolitickerOH)

OH-05: Rep. Bob Latta has raised $73,675 this quarter and has $76,921 cash on hand. His opponent apparently didn't file a report. (PolitickerOH)

OH-06: Deputy Recorder Richard Stobbs (R-Dillonvale) didn't file a report, which is not a good sign seeing as Rep. Charlie Wilson raised $609,691 this quarter. The interesting thing about that is that Wilson has only $397,855 cash on hand, which means he's spending an awful lot of money on a race that shouldn't be much of a sweat. If you are looking for a dark horse bet for your campaign dollar, this just might be your race. (PolitickerOH)    UPDATE:  My source at PolitickerOH has reported an error: Charlie Wilson’s 2Q # was $129,490, not $600K.

OH-07: State Senator Steve Austria (R-Beavercreek) posted strong fundraising totals for the second quarter today, outraising his Democratic opponent by more than $151,000. Since the campaign began, Sen. Austria has raised nearly $820,000, far outraising his opponent by nearly $500,000. His opponent is Sharon Neuhardt, a liberal attorney from Yellow Springs. (WMD)

OH-08: Tucked deep within House Minority Leader John Boehner’s mammoth Federal Elections Commission filing is this “receipt”: Boehner received $1.09 million this quarter, $1.15 million total from Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., part of a legal ruling against McDermott earlier this year. (Jessica Wehrman, Dayton Daily News) Boehner has spent he spent $-768,997.09 this quarter. That minus sign is not an accident or a typo...

OH-09: This one is ugly. Brad Leavitt, our guy, didn't file. Rep. Marcy Kaptur raised $77,135 last quarter and has $939,633 cash on hand. (PolitickerOH)

OH-10: Jim Trakas raised $103,033 in the second quarter but only has $87,451 cash on hand. Rep. Dennis Kucinich is on cruise control having raised just $147,853 last quarter, but he has $506,235 cash on hand. If you are looking for a place to put some campaign donations to fight against Democrats who want impeachment to go forward, this is the race for you. (PolitickerOH)

OH-11: Republican candidate Thomas Pekarek didn't file a report, but Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones raised $177,816 last quarter and only has $83,848 cash on hand. This is another long-shot bet that could have significant pay-off for your campaign dollar. (PolitickerOH)

OH-12: Rep. Pat Tiberi raised $246,060 in the second quarter and has a whopping $866,855 cash on hand. His opponent, businessman David Robinson only raised $52,371 last quarter and has a paltry $19,976 cash on hand. (PolitickerOH)

OH-13: Our guy, David Potter, didn't file, but Rep. Betty Sutton raised $72,976 last quarter and only has $188,693 cash on hand. This is another one of those races where a little investment in our candidate might make a difference. (PolitickerOH)

OH-14: Rep. LaTourette is crushing his opponent, former Judge Bill O'Neill. LaTourette raised $333,813 in 2Q and has $870,849 cash on hand; whereas O'Neill put up $104,051 last quarter, but only has $46,541 cash on hand. (PolitickerOH)

OH-15: Steve Stivers outraised Mary Jo Kilroy last quarter and is getting closer to closing the gap created by Kilroy having gotten in to the race a year before Stivers. Here is an opportunity for your campaign dollars to be put to really good use in what is going to be a tough fight. The DCCC has already committed $1.2 million in ad buys for this race. UPDATE:  Source - (WMD)

OH-16: The Schuring campaign has raised over $800,000 to date and has nearly $350,000 cash on hand. (WMD) He trails John Boccieri (D-Not from OH-16) in the money race, so if you are looking for a place to donate that will have an impact, Team Schuring is the place for that.

OH-17: Duane V. Grassell, a teacher running as a Republican, did not file a report. His opponent, Rep. Tim Ryan, raised $141,770 in last quarter and has $424,293 cash on hand. (PolitickerOH)

OH-18: Republican candidate for Congress in Ohio's 18th District Fred Dailey filed his 2nd quarter fundraising totals and more than doubled the amount of money his campaign had raised in any previous reporting period. Dailey's $112,000 cash on hand consists primarily of local contributors from across Eastern Ohio. (WMD) Dailey has put up the best fundraising numbers of his campaign in this quarter and is looking to build on that momentum. His opponent, the accidental congressman Zack Space, has raised a ton of money, so if you are looking for a good place to put some campaign dollars to use in a district we should not have lost, this is it.

Ohio's Future PAC: Rob Portman started up a PAC and has donated to the Ohio Republican Party, the Cuyahoga and Lucas County parties, as well as three U.S. Reps: Steve Chabot (R-Cincinnati), Jean Schmidt (R-Loveland) and Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green). Congressional candidates Steve Stivers (R-Columbus), Fred Dailey (R-Mt. Vernon), Kirk Schuring (R-Canton) and Steve Austria (R-Beavercreek) have also received donations. (PolitickerOH)

Recharge Ohio PAC: Not to be outdone, John Kasich has also formed a group to help raise funds for Ohio Republicans. Kasich's PAC is focusing in on helping maintain Republican majorities in Ohio's legislature. (Daily Briefing, Columbus Dispatch)

88 in '08: And let's not forget the Ohio Republican Part's efforts to take the presidential race to each and every county in Ohio. Please consider helping out with a contribution. Here’s what a single $88 contribution can do (based on statewide calculations): 226 Absentee Ballot Request Forms, 1760 GOTV phone calls, 31 new voters that can be identified and registered, 117 yard signs, or 880 bumper stickers. Remember: As Ohio goes, so goes the nation...

Matt Hurley is the Contributing Editor of Weapons of Mass Discussion, an Ohio-based blog, and a founding member of the State of Ohio Blogger Alliance

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Comments

There's a lot of letters in this post

Submitted by RedMango on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 20:33.

So are we in a good position or not?

Letters

Submitted by Matt Hurley on Thu, 07/17/2008 - 08:40.

That's funny...  Really...

But I can see your point...I didn't put all of that in to perspective.

Basically, it is my opinion that we're in MUCH better shape in Ohio than most people would have thought.  Ohio was one of the few bright spots for the GOP in 2006 -- having only lost the Bob Ney seat -- and I am seeing no indication of truly horrible things on the horizon.

The areas of concern are the districts we really don't have much chance in winning to begin with and OH-18.  18 is a concern because Zack Space has something like a 10 to 1 fundraising advantage, but I am not sure if that will be enough to beat Fred Dailey's message which resonates better with the district.  Let's remember that Dailey took out not one but two well funded primary challengers with the change he found between the cusions of his couch.

Back to those areas where we don't have much chance to win anyway.  Take OH-11 for example.  The incumbent Democrat has less than $100,000 on hand.  If you are one of those people who believes that elections are won based on how much money is spent, then OH-11 looks like a real golden opportunity.  Of course, we are talking about the east side of Cleveland, so it would be a titanic struggle; but I think it is one worth taking a look at...

OH-13 is another such opportunity.  The incumbent Democrat has less than $200,000 on hand.  This is Sherrod Brown's old district and historically that district swings back and forth between the two parties.  Granted, you have to go back to 1977 to see the last Republican to hold the seat, but they held it until that time since 1937.

All in all, I think we are in a position to make some significant gains if the right plan comes together with the right candidates and sufficient funding to make it happen.

Look at why the districts were drawn

Submitted by Ironman on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 20:02.

The goal was , remember, to limit the Dems to six seats. In south and west Ohio that meant trying to be sure the urban districts had enough small towns to offset the city vote, in northeast OH it meant drawing one suburban/small town district (14) without any urban voters.

The one district that doesn't "fit" this narrative is the 6th, which is small town conservative Democratic and the one Dem held seat pre-2006 that voted for GWB.

So the 13th is not likely to happen since the pre-2002 version which we had a shot at didn;t include part of Akron. and the 11th--please--this district voted for Mondale and McGovern.

The way the map is presently drawn Space is living on borrowed time and Wilson might get shocked under the right circumstances. Kucinich might weird himself out of office in a bad Dem year. Maybe. Mostly our problem is we have a lot of 51-54% GOP seats (1, 15, 16) which are tough holds, especially sans incumbent