Ohio Morning Roundup | National Review

Gubernatorial Race

The Ohio governor’s race is tightening. Three new polls released today show Kasich leading by 2 points at most. Reuters has him up 1, CBS has him up 1, and Fox News has him up 2. Strickland voters should avoid feeling too triumphant, however — Strickland’s poll numbers themselves aren’t rising. Kasich’s numbers are just dropping.
Meanwhile, Americans for Tax Reform puts out a press release condemning Strickland for wanting to tax veterans. This as one of his supporters assaults a veteran.

Senate Race

Even as John Kasich’s race tightens, Rob Portman continues to dominate in the polls. He cracks 50 percent in Rasmussen’s poll out today, moves to Likely Republican on RCP, and leads by double digits according to Reuters and Fox News.

House Races

Mary Jo Kilroy, incumbent of OH-15, accuses Republicans of astroturfing their poll results in the following video clip analyzing Ohio’s Republican tilt.

Meanwhile, Steve Driehaus, Democrat of OH-1, is the target of a new<a height="385" href="http:// billboard attack campaign.
And Driehaus, along with some other familiar names, make this article about incumbent Democrats who trail their challengers in the money race:

In Ohio’s first district, for example, former congressman Steve Chabot, who lost his bid for reelection in 2008 to the man who now holds the seat, Democratic Rep. Steve Driehaus. Chabot had just over a million dollars in cash on hand for the tight election campaign, while incumbent Driehaus had $972,908, according to the latest figures available on Opensecrets.org.

In the thirteenth district, self-funded Republican challenger Tom Ganley was sitting on a massive war chest of $2,691,051, dwarfing incumbent Democratic Rep. Betty Sue Sutton, who disclosed $593,409 in the latest report available. Ganley, a veteran car salesman, faces a tough race in the 13th, which favored Barack Obama in 2008. But his money is making him more competitive.

And the same story with some different names is repeated in this article:

The biggest discrepancy between a Democratic incumbent and a Republican challenger is in Ohio’s 13th Congressional District. Republican Tom Ganley had $2.1 million more in the bank than incumbent Rep. Betty Sue Sutton (D-Ohio) at the end of June, the date of the race’s most recent campaign finance reports. […]

Also in the Buckeye State, freshman Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio) faces a competitive challenge from Republican Steve Stivers in Ohio’s 15th Congressional District — it’s a rematch of their 2008 showdown. … Stivers had $309,300 more in his bank account than Kilroy at the end of June, the most recently available data. Kilroy is also receiving financial assistance and support from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as part of its “Frontline” program designed to protect members they view as the most vulnerable.