Ohio’s U.S. Senate race was touted as two political heavyweights between incumbent Republican Rob Portman and Democratic former Gov. Ted Strickland. But in the end Portman followed a very specific plan to victory.
A celebration like this may have seemed out of reach 15 months ago when Portman was trailing Strickland by 9 points in the polls. But Portman was a technician with his message and rarely strayed away from his talking points.
Portman called for unity after an election that showed, in his opinion that people were fed up with an inefficient government.
“They expect better, we are capable of better and with a fresh start there will never be a better moment than now to rise above the disfunction in Washington, DC and find that common ground.”
A huge piece to Portman’s win was campaign fundraising, with more than $36 million coming in from outside spending.
Race called quickly
The Associated Press called the race almost immediately after the polls closed. And Strickland conceded moments later.
“I accept the results. The people have spoken. There’s no bitterness in my heart at all. In fact, I’m very grateful for what I’ve been able to do.”
Strickland’s loss wasn’t a surprise. He’d come into the race with high name recognition and an early lead, but blamed the infusion of tens of millions of dollars in campaign ads, much of it from anonymous donations, for his loss. Strickland says he doesn’t know what comes next for him, but that he plans to continue to work on behalf of working Ohioans.
