Portman’s Ohio campaign a sharp contrast to Trump’s

Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman and his re-election team have been beating the bushes and sifting through reams of data for more than a year. Republicans say Trump needs to take a page from Portman's playbook, and they worry that Trump's flyby approach to one of the most important states on the electoral map won't give him the edge he needs over Democrat Hillary Clinton, who already has a strong Ohio operation.

Poll: Portman gains ground in Senate race

Rob Portman has taken the lead in Ohio's hotly contested U.S. Senate race, according to a new poll released Thursday. Poll: Portman gains ground in Senate race Rob Portman has taken the lead in Ohio's hotly contested U.S. Senate race, according to a new poll released Thursday.

Capitol Insider: Who in Ohio Democratic Party helped John Raphael?

The public might never know who at the Ohio Democratic Party helped John Raphael funnel money from red-light-camera vendor Redflex to the campaign of Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther. In mid-October 2011, Redflex gave Raphael a $20,000 "success fee," part of a series of payments that company officials later admitted were intended as bribes.

Toomey, Rubio boost shaky Senate GOP majority

In their quest to hold onto the majority, Senate Republicans got some good news Wednesday with swing state polls showing them in the driver's seat a month before the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. According to new Quinnipiac polls released Wednesday, Sen. Pat Toomey holds a nine-point advantage over Democratic challenger Katie McGinty in Pennsylvania, while Florida's Marco Rubio, who hadn't announced his re-election bid when the poll was taken, leads Rep. Patrick Murphy , giving the GOP a boost in two states Donald Trump looks to flip for the Republicans in November.

Portman, Strickland Tied in Ohio; Toomey Up in Pa.: Quinnipiac

Republican Sen. Rob Portman and Democratic rival and former Gov. Ted Strickland each get 42% support for Ohio Senate race, according to Quinnipiac University poll. In Fla., Republican Sen. Marco Rubio leads Democratic opponent Rep. Patrick Murphy 47%-40%; Rubio tops Rep. Alan Grayson 48%-40% NOTE: Rubio needs to decide by Friday whether he will seek re-election; he is re-evaluating his earlier decision not to seek a second term NOTE: Margin of error in Fla.

Portman: It’s ‘wrong’ for Trump to talk about judge’s ethnicity

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Sen. Rob Portman blasted Donald Trump for making personal, racially tinged verbal attacks against a federal judge. Trump has issued a litany of attacks on U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is overseeing two class-action lawsuits against Trump University in San Diego.

Coal miners PAC backs Portman over Strickland for US Senate

A coal miners' union influential in Appalachian Ohio is backing Republican Rob Portman over rival Ted Strickland in the closely watched contest for U.S. Senate. The announcement Thursday by the United Mine Workers of America's National Council of Coal Miners PAC comes as a political blow to Strickland.

Cleveland leaders vow to host a safe and scenic Republican convention: Ohio Politics Roundup

In this June 2014 file photo, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson speaks to the media with Republican National Committee site selection leader Enid Mickelsen and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus alongside at Quicken Loans Arena. Mayor Frank Jackson and other Cleveland leaders swear they have their act together for the Republican National Convention.

Rob Portman touts opioids work in first re-election ads

Sen. Rob Portman parlayed his work to combat the prescription painkiller and heroin crisis into a series of campaign ads Tuesday, as he tries to stave off former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and win re-election in November. Congress is trying to catch up with a devastating opioids outbreak that is killing more people than car crashes do in some places, and Mr. Portman , Ohio Republican, has frequently touted his efforts to stem the tide.

Sherrod Brown, Rob Portman find common ground in U.S. Senate despite party differences

Ohio Sens. Rob Portman, left, and Sherrod Brown - seen together in January at the Martin Luther King Jr. ceremonies at the Columbus Convention Center - have developed a cordial relationship despite their partisan differences. WASHINGTON - You wouldn't think they like each other or have anything in common: the soft-spoken, button-down conservative Republican from Cincinnati who served as U.S. trade representative under President George W. Bush, and the gravel-voiced, rumpled Democrat from Cleveland who wrote a book called "The Myths of Free Trade."

BC-OH-Ohio News Digest 1:30 pm, OH

Hello! Here's a look at how AP's general news coverage is shaping up in Ohio. Questions about coverage plans are welcome and should be directed to the AP Columbus bureau at 614-885-2727 or APColumbus@ap.org.

Strickland Pummels Portman On ‘ Economic Fairness, Earned Pay’

The offices of the International Association of Theater and Screen Employees were the opening media event site for Ohio Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Ted Strickland's three-day sojourn around Ohio to contrast his agenda with incumbent Republican Sen. Rob Portman's, especially on issues including economic fairness and getting earned pay for overtime work. Wednesday's media event featuring Ted Strickland speaking to a small group about wealth disparities and pay for work was dubbed the "You Work It, You Earn It" Tour.

New Charter School Study: Millions In Federal Grants Wasted In Ohio

In downtown Columbus Thursday, a new study based on years worth of work shows millions of federal tax dollars intended for high-performing charter schools have actually gone to some of Ohio's worst. More problematic was the news that many millions went to other charter schools that never even opened.

Labor groups launch attack ads against Rob Portman

COLUMBUS, Ohio-Two labor groups have announced they are launching modest ad campaigns in Ohio against Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman. One television ad from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees' PAC, hits Portman for his support of free trade.

Ohio Senate race is most expensive in U.S., may be ugliest

Sen. Rob Portman, an incumbent, talks about how Republicans, amid a contentious presidential election, came out in record numbers to participate in Ohio's primary. Portman took more than 80 percent of the vote to fend of a conservative challenge.