Ohio Republican lawmakers to knock on doors for Portman

Members of the Ohio Republican delegation in the House will hit the pavement on Saturday on behalf of Sen. Rob Portman’s (R-Ohio) reelection efforts.

There are 12 Republican members of the House from Ohio, and many will go door-to-door across the Buckeye State, joining about 750 other activists in a “Super Saturday” campaign push with the goal of making 25,000 new voter contacts.

{mosads}Ohio residents in major media markets like Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, Columbus and Akron will open their doors to find Reps. Brad Wenstrup, Bob Latta, Steve Stivers, Pat Tiberi, Mike Turner and others.

The remaining members of the GOP delegation, like Rep. Jim Jordan, will send out volunteer commitment requests, fundraising mailers or work on the recruitment drive in some other capacity, the campaign says. 

Portman has a tough reelection fight ahead in 2016 in Ohio, a swing-state that President Obama carried in 2008 and 2012.

Early polls show Portman’s Democratic challenger, former Gov. Ted Strickland, with a narrow lead.

But Portman is taking his reelection efforts seriously, and the Super Saturday event seeks to leverage his enthusiastic support from the Republican establishment in the state.

He’ll also have a fundraising advantage, with $11 million in the bank at the end of the third quarter, compared to $1.5 million in cash-on-hand for Strickland.

Portman has been dipping into his war chest early, releasing more than a half-dozen digital ads attacking Strickland.