Strickland launches challenge to Portman

Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (D) will run for Senate in 2016, setting up a heavyweight fight between himself and Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio).

In a statement Wednesday morning announcing his candidacy, Strickland highlighted his Rust Belt roots.

“I’m running for the United States Senate in 2016 because I am determined to restore the American Dream for working people in this country,” Strickland said. “I believe in the American Dream because I’ve lived it. I grew up in rural Scioto County as the eighth of nine children, and was the first person in my family to go to college. My father was a proud steelworker and my hard-working mother devoted her life to raising our family. I know how difficult it is to move up in this world, and the deck is increasingly stacked against working people.”

{mosads}“Today, we are producing, building, creating and discovering more than ever before, and yet, for the middle-class, getting ahead has never been harder,” he continued. “I believe that if you’re willing to work hard every day and play by the rules, you shouldn’t go to bed worrying about tomorrow.”

If Strickland, now the heavy favorite, wins the nomination, it will set up a clash between two of the biggest names in Ohio politics.

Strickland spent more than a decade representing Ohio in the House before returning home to serve one term as governor. He lost a close reelection bid to now-Gov. John Kasich (R) in the 2010 Republican wave but has stayed involved in politics through his work with the liberal Center for American Progress in Washington.

Portman, who is seeking his second term in the Senate, also spent more than a decade in the House. He later served as U.S. trade representative and director of the Office of Management and Budget under former President George W. Bush.

Portman announced his reelection campaign earlier this year in a show of strength that could keep any potential challengers from the right out of the primaries.

“I welcome Governor Strickland back to Ohio and look forward to a candid exchange of ideas during this critical time for so many in our state,” the GOP senator said in a statement Wednesday. “The coming months will give Ohioans an opportunity to contrast my vision for a better future for Ohio workers with his past tenure as governor when hundreds of thousands of jobs disappeared from our state.”

Portman has nearly $6 million in his campaign war chest. He began his reelection efforts in January with the backing of essentially every elected Republican in the state, including Kasich, Speaker John Boehner, who represents Ohio’s 8th District, and the entire Ohio congressional delegation, including former Republican Study Committee head Jim Jordan, a well-regarded voice among conservatives in the House.

Prominent Republicans like Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) have sent emails to supporters on behalf of Portman. And former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s Right to Rise leadership PAC gave to Portman in its first round of contributions last week.

Only one Democrat stands in Strickland’s path to the nomination, for now. 

P.G. Sittenfeld, a 30-year-old Cincinnati city councilman, generated buzz in January when he announced he was launching a bid for Senate. Sittenfeld is a rising star in the party and viewed as a next-generation candidate.

Some Democrats are skeptical that the first-timer could go toe-to-toe with Portman, and he has a similarly uphill climb if he stays in the race and challenges Strickland, an entrenched establishment figure, in the primary.