Tom Ganley, an auto dealer who had been seeking the Republican Senate nomination in Ohio, is expected to switch races and instead run for a House seat, against incumbent Democratic Rep. Betty Sutton. This is a big gain for former Rep. Rob Portman, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, who now has a clear path through the primary.
Ganley had been attempting to mount an anti-establishment, Tea Party-linked campaign against Portman, but polls had consistently shown him failing to catch on. Reports indicate that a Ganley internal poll had shown him running well against Sutton. On paper, though, Sutton’s district could be a tough climb for Ganley. It voted 57%-42% for Barack Obama in 2008, and before that it voted 56%-44% for John Kerry in 2004.
However, as CQ points out, Ganley will be able to transfer his $1.3 million cash on hand from the Senate race (much of it self-financed) over to the House race. By comparison, Sutton had only $210,000 cash on hand as of December 31.
