Brown has $11.8M in bank for re-election

WASHINGTON — Sen. Sherrod Brown has raised nearly $19.7 million for his re-election, and with eight months until Election Day has more than $11.8 million in the bank, according to his latest campaignfinance report.

Brown, a Democrat seeking his third term in the U.S. Senate, raised $3.3 million in the first quarter of this year alone. The $11.8 million he has to spend is nearly twice as much as his campaign had at this point in 2012, when he last ran for re-election.

Brown’s campaign said his fundraising sets an Ohio record for a campaign in the first quarter of an election year. By contrast, Sen. Rob Portman raised roughly $2.4 million during that same period in 2016, though that was a year when political donations were also going to presidential candidates.

“No one fights harder for Ohioans than Sherrod Brown, and it’s clear Ohioans are rallying around Sherrod in his re-election campaign,” said Justin Barasky, campaign manager for Friends of Sherrod Brown. According to the campaign, 30,575 people contributed to the campaign during the first quarter of 2018, with 129,161 individuals giving this six-year cycle. Their average contribution for the cycle is $44.

Among the Republicans vying to challenge him in November are Rep. Jim Renacci of Wadsworth, banker Mike Gibbons of Cleveland, smallbusiness owner Melissa Ackison of Marysville and retiree Don Elijah Eckhart of Galloway.

None has released a campaign-finance report, which are due Sunday.

“Sherrod Brown will need every penny he can get, but it still won’t be enough to defend his liberal voting record; especially his vote against tax cuts for Ohio families,” Ohio Republican Chair Jane Timken said in a release. “When Jim Renaccci is elected on Nov. 6, Ohioans will finally have two senators who represent their interests, not the coastal elite’s.”