2010 Ohio Senate - Portman vs. Fisher

10/30/10 -- Fisher donated his last $100,000 to the state Democratic Party, effectively conceding this race.

10/8/10 -- Portman is pretty close to putting this race away.  He's led by double digits in every poll taken over the past few months, while Fisher hasn't been above 43 percent in a poll since June.  Fisher hasn't raised much money, either, so it is hard to see how he closes this gap in three weeks.

----------Race Preview---------

Ohio is in many ways a microcosm of America. It contains everything: A slice of Appalachia in the southeast, farmland in the northwest, industrial centers and new growth cities. For much of the past few decades, it has been a few points more Republican than the rest of the country, including 2008 when it went for Barack Obama by three points fewer than Obama’s national average. The Republicans it produced have been conservative, but they have generally been establishment conservatives who have substantial breaks with conservative orthodoxy, like Mike DeWine and George Voinovich.

DeWine was defeated handily by liberal Democrat Sherrod Brown in 2006, and Voinovich opted to retire this year rather than fight for re-election. After a contentious primary, Democrats nominated Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher. Republicans chose Rob Portman.

Portman was the Republicans’ first choice, and has shown an aptitude for fundraising. At the end of the second quarter, he led the cash race with about six times Fisher’s cash on hand. But Portman’s lengthy political career will provide fodder for the Democrats. He was budget director under President Bush, as well as U.S. trade representative. The latter isn’t likely to play well in this rust belt state, while the former seems unlikely to play well . . . anywhere.