Sherrod Brown couldn't wait to brag about his fund-raising success over the last three months. Voters will have to wait a few days to see how successful it really was.
Mr. Brown is a Democratic congressman challenging incumbent U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine (R., Cedarville) this fall. The race could swing control of the Senate.
Reports filed in July showed that the candidates combined raised nearly $17 million through the entire election cycle, with Mr. DeWine leading by about $3 million in available cash. The next finance report is due on Sunday.
Yesterday, six days before the deadline, Mr. Brown's campaign said in a press release that it raised almost $3 million in July through Sept. 30, a $1.3 million increase from last quarter.
It also said Mr. Brown had $1.2 million left on hand - meaning Mr. Brown spent $5.4 million from July through September, which his campaign said is largely for television advertising.
Mr. DeWine's campaign declined to estimate its totals, which it will release later in the week, or to comment about Mr. Brown's numbers. Sources said the senator will get more high-profile fund-raising help on Oct. 30, when U.S. Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) headlines a pair of Toledo events to benefit the DeWine campaign.Tickets to the "V.I.P." reception, at a private residence, will run $1,000 per person or $1,500 per couple. A larger event at the Toledo Country Club will cost $500 a head.
A Brown spokesman pitched the early release totals as further evidence, along with recent polling and the size of crowds on Mr. Brown's college tour last week, that the Democrat has seized momentum in the race.
"Change is 29 days away," said the spokesman, Joanna Kuebler.
Republicans, meanwhile, said a reported North Korean nuclear test yesterday weakened Mr. Brown's standing in the race, citing the congressman's votes against an American missile-defense system.
"Today's test by North Korea is a reminder that we live in a dangerous world," the National Republican Senatorial Committee said, "and that the policies of the far left championed by Congressman Brown on national security make us less safe."
Mr. Brown responded with a statement saying Mr. DeWine and President Bush have focused on the Iraq war and neglected "mounting threats in other parts of the world," and that it is time "to present North Korea with a bottom-line choice on its future."
Contact Jim Tankersley at:
jtankersley@theblade.com
or 419-724-6134.
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