In Ohio, Romney and Obama Are Tops At Raising $$$$

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- A new Federal Election Commission data set for 2008 presidential fundraising shows the Democrats have raised more money in Ohio than the Republicans. In all, $2.7 million has been contributed through the second quarter of 2007. The Dems got nearly $1.5 million of the total.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who is due in Cincinnati for a July 17 fundraiser, has picked up $491,014, which puts him atop the Demo field. Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, has $701,662 on the Republican side.

There is one Ohioan in the presidential race, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich. The Cleveland Democrat has raised $15,376 in his home state, which is less than Republican long shot Ron Paul, a Texas congressman running with a libertarian bent. Most of the money Kucinich has gotten in Ohio, $8,400, has come from Cuyahoga County, where he lives.

One maxim of Ohio politics has been holding true, the data set shows. Cincinnatians like to write checks for Republicans. Almost one-third of the cash generated for the presidential candidates to date has come from Cincinnati area Zip codes. The FEC data comes in an interactive map that a fun tool to track fundraising.