Sherrod Brown’s campaign raises nearly $13M in second quarter

Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) raked in nearly $13 million for his campaign over the past three months, putting up another impressive quarter in his hotly contested Senate race. 

The $12.8 million the campaign will report to the Federal Election Commission for the second quarter tops the $12.1 million raised in the first quarter of 2024 as Brown tries to hold on to his Senate seat for a fourth term in the red-leaning state. 

Axios first reported the haul. 

“Sherrod has unprecedented grassroots support backing him because he has a proven track record fighting for Ohioans — from saving the pensions of over 100,000 Ohioans, to standing up to presidents of both parties to block bad trade deals that rip off Ohio workers, to always fighting for women’s right to make their own healthcare decisions,” said Rachel Petri, Brown’s campaign manager, in a release. 

The release states that almost 92 percent of Brown’s donations during the second quarter were for $100 or less, and the campaign had $10.7 million cash on hand entering July. 

Brown is facing Republican Bernie Moreno, a businessman, for the seat. Moreno won a contested primary for the GOP nomination with an endorsement from former President Trump. 

Moreno has yet to announce his fundraising numbers for the second quarter. But Brown had built up an early lead in fundraising, greatly outpacing Moreno’s figures in the first quarter. 

A former car dealership owner, Moreno has been able to partially self-fund his campaign with loans from his personal funds. 

Keeping Brown’s seat will be key to Democrats’ chances of maintaining their majority in the Senate. He will have to win in a state that voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 and is likely to do so again this year. 

Brown is currently a slight favorite to win his seat, according to a Decision Desk HQ/The Hill analysis of the race. The analysis gives Brown a 61 percent chance to win but still considers the race a toss-up. 

He leads Moreno in the polling average by about 6 points.