Strickland is running for Senate - & so is PG Sittenfeld

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WASHINGTON - Ted Strickland is officially running for U.S. Senate, but so is P.G. Sittenfeld.

Only one of the two Democrats can take on incumbent Sen. Rob Portman in November 2016, setting up a possible primary between the 73-year-old former governor and the 30-year-old Cincinnati city councilman. But on Wednesday, after Strickland officially entered the race, both candidates would only talk about taking on Portman.

"I have genuine admiration for Ted Strickland, but my focus isn't on who is or isn't going to be getting in the primary," Sittenfeld told The Enquirer. "My opponent is Rob Portman."

Strickland said he was "not terribly worried" about a bruising primary. He said he already had strong support across the state to jump back into the political fray six years after he narrowly lost a second term as Ohio's chief executive.



Instead, Strickland immediately took aim at Portman, outlining a populist platform.

"I believe working-class people are not being adequately represented by Sen. Portman," Strickland said in an interview.

"Working people are facing a system that results in wages remaining stagnant or even falling back, while the richest people in this country continue to grow ever richer, and that's not an accident," he added. "The rich and the powerful have undue influence in Washington, D.C. I want to go there and change that system."

Strickland's announcement will ramp up the Ohio contest, attracting national attention and big money from both parties in what is likely to be a marquee race. Republicans thus far have focused their ammunition almost entirely on the former governor, clearly viewing him as the more substantive threat to Portman's re-election.

Portman took a quick swipe Wednesday at Strickland's recent stint as president of a liberal Washington advocacy group and at his tenure as governor, which overlapped with the 2008 economic meltdown. Strickland was governor from from 2007 to 2011, a post he won after serving six terms in the U.S. House.

"I welcome Governor Strickland back to Ohio and look forward to a candid exchange of ideas," Portman said in a statement. "The coming months will give Ohioans an opportunity to contrast my vision for a better future for Ohio workers with his past tenure as governor when hundreds of thousands of jobs disappeared from our state. ...

"Ohio families deserve a senator who will fight for their future and they can't afford to go backward with Governor Strickland," added Portman, who is also a former congressman and who served in the George W. Bush administration as budget director and U.S. trade representative.

Portman's campaign unveiled a website with much sharper attacks. "Ted Strickland would take Ohio backward," says the site's banner introduction.

Other Republicans also were ready. The Ohio Republican Party set up its own website blasting Strickland's tenure as governor. And the National Republican Senatorial Committee took aim too.

"Ted Strickland was a terrible governor for Ohio families – under his tenure Ohio lost over 350,000 jobs and was 48th in job creation," said NRSC spokesman Jahan Wilcox. "The choice is clear: it's either back to the Strickland days of record unemployment or moving our economy forward with Ohio's Rob Portman."

Strickland has said the early barbs show that "Republicans are afraid of me." In Wednesday's interview, he said he would strongly defend his tenure as governor and remind voters that it came during the 2008 economic meltdown.

"I think most people understand that our nation went through the greatest economic recession since the Great Depression," Strickland said. He said he moved to stabilize Ohio and stop the hemorrhaging.

"I froze tuition for two years, making college more affordable," he said. "I invested in vital infrastructure needs of our state. And I think it's fair to point out that during the latter part of my tenure as governor, Ohio's economy was in recovery."

He said he would highlight his differences with Portman on a range of issues—from raising the minimum wage to trade.

As for his potential primary opponent, Sittenfeld, Strickland said he didn't want to be seen as shoving the young city councilman aside. For now, Strickland said, he won't release a list of endorsements.

"I want to be sensitive to P.G. Sittenfeld, and I don't want to give an impression that I'm doing anything that's trying to put pressure on him to do anything," he said. "I'm just trying to be a decent guy about all this right now."

Asked if that would change if Sittenfeld stayed in the race, Strickland said: "I intend to win the primary … leave it at that."

The state's top elected Democrat -- Sen. Sherrod Brown -- said he would stay neutral for now, but he left open the possibility of endorsing at some point.

"I have not gotten a chance to talk to either candidate in great detail yet. I want to do that first," Brown said. "There is no hurry. … They're both good public servants and they're both good candidates."

Other Democrats jumped right in.

"They're both good Democrats but I will be endorsing Ted Strickland," said U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Columbus. Strickland is a long-time friend and ally, she said, while she doesn't know Sittenfeld. Beatty also said that while she doesn't want to dissuade the city councilman from running, she is concerned about the impact of a divisive primary.

"It takes up a lot of energy," she said.

Even so, Sittenfeld said Strickland's candidacy changed nothing for him. He first launched his campaign in January and has reportedly raised more than $500,000 so far.

"I'm in this race to fight for the things and the values that I care about, that I think Ohioans care about," Sittenfeld said. "I'm in the race to try to be the champion for the middle class. ... I'm happy to talk about the ways in which I think (Portman) has helped stack the deck against the middle class and hasn't delivered for Ohio over many decades in Washington."

Still, Sittenfeld may have made one veiled jab at Strickland Wednesday. A statement the city councilman released after the former governor's announcement boasted that he offered "new ideas" – contrasting himself with Portman, 59, and perhaps with the 73-year-old former governor.

As for why the Republicans appear more concerned about Strickland's candidacy than his, Sittenfeld said: "You would have to ask the Republicans."

Without question, Strickland's announcement poses a major threat to Sittenfeld's candidacy. Many now will be watching and waiting to see if the city councilman steps aside or fights it out with a fellow Democrat who has a national fundraising network and statewide name recognition.

"When you have a former congressman and a former governor who is very popular in the Democratic Party, he's clearly the front runner and that puts a lot of pressure on P.G. to drop out," said Sandy Theis, executive director of the liberal ProgressOhio and a past ally of Strickland.

She discounted suggestions that a primary might be healthy for the Ohio Democratic Party, which was left with a weak bench after the 2014 elections, when gubernatorial contender Ed FitzGerald was tainted by scandal and trounced by Republican Gov. John Kasich.

"It's better to have a primary if you have a candidate who is not known, like Ed FitzGerald," Theis said. "But Ted Strickland is very well known."

She said he has the fundraising network and the statewide appeal - particularly among Ohio's swing voters - to be a major threat to Portman.

But the nascent contest between Strickland and Sittenfeld highlights the Ohio Democratic Party's current troubles. Sittenfeld is seen by some as a rising Democratic star, but with his limited name recognition and short political resume, he has a steep hill to climb in any statewide race.

Strickland is well-known across the sprawling Buckeye State, but some worry he is an old-guard candidate who could falter when many voters are eager for change and new faces

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Contact Deirdre Shesgreen at dshesgreen@usatoday.com or follow me on Twitter @dshesgreen

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