Tim Ryan raises $4.1 million for Senate race in first quarter

Ohio Senate candidate and Rep. Tim Ryan (D) raised $4.1 million in the first quarter of the year, marking a record amount raised for a Senate candidate at this point in the midterms cycle.

According to his campaign, 97 percent of Ryan’s contributions were $100 or less. Ryan’s campaign also saw 29,239 new donors this quarter. 

Ryan’s campaign currently has $6.4 million in the bank. 

The congressman is the clear front-runner in the state’s Democratic Senate primary, in which Morgan Harper, Traci Johnson and LaShondra Tinsley are also competing. 

But Ryan already has his sights set on the general election race, beyond the May 3 primary. 

Last month, Ryan announced plans to invest more than $3 million to support down-ballot Ohio Democrats this cycle. Additionally, he launched a $3.3 million ad buy.

Ryan is running to replace retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) in the Buckeye State.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the general election race in the state as “lean Republican,” but the eventual GOP nominee will first have to get through a crowded and contentious primary. 

Five Republicans — businessman Mike Gibbons, former state Treasurer Josh Mandel, author and businessman J.D. Vance, former state GOP Chairwoman Jane Timken and state Sen. Matt Dolan — are vying for the nomination.