NEWS

Union support for Portman ignites Dems' fears in Ohio

Deirdre Shesgreen and Jessie Balmert
USA TODAY Network
FOP endorses Sen. Rob Portman over former Gov. Strickland in the tight U.S. Senate race.

Democrats in Ohio, Washington and Philadelphia seemed knocked back on their heels Tuesday, after Republican incumbent Sen. Rob Portman snagged back-to-back endorsements from major labor unions.

The Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, the state's largest law enforcement union, endorsed Portman on Tuesday over former Gov. Ted Strickland, in Ohio’s tight U.S. Senate race. Just 24 hours earlier, Portman also snapped up the support of the Ohio Conference of Teamsters — a union that typically endorses Democrats.

The surprise union support for Portman, a Chamber of Commerce Republican not traditionally allied with labor, fueled a growing concern among Democrats that Strickland’s campaign is losing ground just as voters begin to tune in.

“Strickland is running the oddest campaign,” said Steve Fought, a Democratic consultant in Ohio who used to work for Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo. Fought and others said the Teamsters' support for Portman is “a real blow” to Strickland, and it adds to the perception that Strickland is running a lackluster campaign.

Jennifer Duffy, who tracks Senate races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said the Ohio contest looks different in practice than on paper.

“If you look at least at the public polling, it still looks like a very close race,” said Duffy.  “But if you watch it every day, it doesn’t feel that way.”

She said Portman’s campaign “is firing on all cylinders, doing what they need to do,” while Strickland’s campaign seems more complacent.

Strickland’s campaign spokesman, David Bergstein, said such assessments are flat-out wrong.

“Ted is running a strong, aggressive campaign across the state,” he said. In just the past few weeks, he noted, Strickland has hammered Portman over his support for “job killing” free-trade deals and unveiled his own detailed infrastructure proposal.

“Meanwhile, Senator Portman was just named a Republican National Convention ‘loser,’ and he’s faced blistering headlines on everything from his decision to duck through a D.C. alley to avoid questions about his support for Trump to his votes against commonsense gun safety measures,” Bergstein said.

Strickland, unlike Portman, embracing nominee

There's no question Portman was in an uncomfortable position last week, as Republicans flocked to Clevelend for the GOP convention. Portman maintained a careful distance from the GOP festivities as his party nominated Donald Trump, who has alienated a wide swath of voters with his race-baiting rhetoric and his controversial proposals.

Strickland by contrast has embraced Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. He arrived at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Tuesday, telling reporters at the Ohio delegation breakfast that his party was unified and electrified by the first night of their nominating confab.

"Michelle Obama knocked it out the park and reminded us all we live in the greatest nation," Strickland said of Monday's speech by the First Lady, although he did not take questions about his race. Strickland will not be on stage in Philadelphia but he is doing a series of events on the sidelines, speaking on Tuesday, for example, to the League of Conservative Voters.

The Portman Convention? Senator navigates in Party of Trump

The Ohio Senate contest has long been atop the national lists of most-watched races, expected to be one of the most competitive and expensive in the country in part because it’s unfolding in a battleground state against the backdrop of a bitter presidential fight. The Ohio race is one of a handful that could help determine which party controls the Senate come January. Democrats need a net gain of four seats to win control of the Senate if Clinton wins the White House and five if Trump wins the presidency.

One recent poll, conducted by NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls and released July 13, showed the race deadlocked, with 43 percent of registered Ohio voters supporting Strickland and 42 percent supporting Portman. Another poll, done by Quinnipiac University and also released in mid-July, showed Portman 7 percentage points ahead of Strickland.

But it’s not those numbers that have Democrats most worried. Strickland has lagged far behind Portman in fundraising, raising about $2 million in the second quarter of 2016 and closing June with $4 million cash on hand.

Portman raised almost double that in the second quarter—raking in $3.8 million—and ended the quarter with more than $13 million in the bank.

“Without question (Strickland’s) fundraising is not where it needs to be,” said one national Democratic strategist involved in Senate races who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be more candid. “There is a growing level of frustration that if the campaign doesn’t turn things around, they’re not going to be successful.”

Portman gains ground in Senate race

Several Ohio Democrats downplayed the importance of Portman’s recent union endorsements, calling them an aberration from Strickland’s broad support among Ohio’s working-class voters. On Tuesday, Strickland announced that the Ohio Association of Professional Firefighters were backing his campaign, and earlier this year, he won endorsements from a slew of other labor groups, including the AFSCME, AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers.

In 2010, the FOP endorsed Strickland for governor over GOP challenger John Kasich, but the police union often taps Republican candidates in federal races. And while the Teamsters union typically endorses Democrats, some noted that the union—as well as the United Mine Workers, which also endorsed Portman—may be hedging their bets right now as Congress weighs a major pensions’ bill that would affect their workers’ pocketbooks.

“Some labor groups are concerned about the power Senator Portman is holding over their pensions, but Ted has earned an overwhelming amount of support from unions because of his proven commitment to fighting for working families,” said Bergstein.

A spokesman for the Teamsters union and the Mine Workers did not return calls for comment.

Portman 'tied at the hip to Donald Trump' 

Caleb Faux, executive director of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, conceded that it hurts for Democrats to lose union endorsements as Strickland did this week. But he said the race is still close, and he argued that Clinton would bring Strickland supporters to the polls.

Donald Trump, the GOP nominee, might not do that for Portman, Faux said, noting that the Trump campaign’s decision last week to pick a fight with Gov. John Kasich could stifle Republican turnout in Ohio.

GOP unity? Trump takes aim against Kasich, Cruz

Bill DeMora, an Ohio Democratic Party strategist from Columbus, echoed that assessment.

“Rob Portman is tied at the hip to Donald Trump,” Demora said. “That’s just a reality ... The top of your ticket is who you are stuck with whether you want it to be or not.”

Others agreed with that assessment, but said that’s part of the problem; Strickland seems to be counting on riding Clinton’s coattails to victory, rather than mounting his own hard-hitting campaign.

“He’s counting on Clinton to do the ground game,” Duffy said of Strickland.

By contrast, Portman’s campaign seemed to realize, even before Trump became the official GOP nominee, that he would not get any help from the top of the ticket, she said, and he has assembled a super sophisticated field program of his own.

“No question, the (Strickland) strategy is for Trump to implode and for Hillary to pull him across the finish line,” said Fought. It’s “unconventional and risky,” he added, but it could work given Trump’s unpredictable and incendiary campaign.

In the meantime, the Strickland-Portman match-up is "underwhelming," Fought said, "... (especially) for being perhaps the most important Senate race in the country.”

Cincinnati Enquirer reporter Sharon Coolidge contributed to this story.