Ohio Senate candidate highlights opposition to trade deals in first TV ad

Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland’s Senate campaign is launching its first TV ad in his race against Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), touting the Democrat’s biography and his opposition to trade deals.

{mosads}The 60-second spot, entitled “Fire,” started airing statewide Wednesday and will run until Election Day. The campaign has already reserved $8 million in airtime for after Labor Day.

The ad focuses on Strickland’s upbringing and the lessons he learned from his family’s loss of two houses while he was growing up. He noted that he was the first member of his family to go to college and that his father worked in a steel mill.

It also highlights Strickland’s opposition to trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, a line of attack that he has repeatedly lobbed at Portman.

“Now Ted Strickland is running for the U.S. Senate, calling for a moratorium on all new trade deals until we can prove they’ll create American jobs,” the ad’s narrator says.

The ad also calls for repairing infrastructure and protecting Medicare and Social Security.

The tight Ohio Senate race has grown more contentious over the past several weeks.

Portman has landed four endorsements from labor unions that had backed Strickland in his past elections.

Meanwhile, Strickland continues to hammer Portman for supporting past trade agreements, a position at odds with the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

But while Portman has an uphill battle in a state President Obama won in 2008 and 2012, he continues to outpace Strickland in fundraising and maintains a lead in the polls. A survey from NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist released Tuesday found him leading by 5 points. A month earlier, Portman and Strickland were tied in the same poll.

The seat could be pivotal in determining which party gains control of the Senate next year. Democrats need to net five seats — or four if they keep control of the White House — to regain the majority. They are defending 10 seats, while Republicans must fight for 24.