Sherrod Brown hauls in more than $12M in first quarter for Ohio Senate race

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) hauled in more than $12 million in the first quarter of fundraising in the Ohio Senate race, his campaign announced Wednesday.  

Brown is running against businessman Bernie Moreno (R) in November as he vies for a fourth term in the Senate.  

“While Sherrod’s opponent makes it clear he’s only out for himself and is using his millions to try to buy Ohio’s Senate seat, Sherrod has unprecedented grassroots support behind his reelection campaign,” Brown’s campaign manager Rachel Petri said in a statement.  

“Sherrod and Connie are thankful to every member of this movement working to send Sherrod back to the Senate to continue fighting for Ohioans and the Dignity of Work.” 

The announcement from Brown’s campaign did not include any figures on how much cash Brown ended the first quarter of fundraising with. The Hill has reached out to his campaign for further information. 

Brown’s campaign reported having $13.5 million in the bank, according to a pre-primary federal campaign filing report that was filed in March.  

Meanwhile, Moreno had $2.39 million cash on hand, according to his pre-primary campaign report. But that number is expected to increase now that Moreno has cleared the GOP primary.

Moreno’s campaign has not yet announced his first-quarter fundraising numbers.  

Brown’s numbers represent an uptick since the fourth quarter of fundraising last year, when he raised $6.6 million. Moreno, comparatively, had raised $800,000 during that same period.  

The path to the Senate majority will run through Ohio as Brown is one of two senators who represent states former President Trump won in 2020; Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) is the other. 

Trump endorsed Moreno earlier in the primary, in addition to Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Meanwhile, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) and former Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) endorsed state Sen. Matt Dolan (R) in the GOP primary, though he lost to Moreno.