LIMA — The race for Rep. Jim Jordan’s Ohio 4th Congressional District seat has drawn an outpouring of fundraising dollars from across the nation, which has placed Jordan as one of the top fundraising representatives in the House.
According to campaign finance reports filed this past week, Jordan’s campaign reported raising almost $9.2 million by the end of June during the latest campaign cycle due to his heightened national profile. He now ranks among some of most well-known names in the House with only seven representatives reporting higher receipt totals in the 2019-2020 campaign cycle.
Historically speaking, Jordan could add the last 12 years of his campaign receipts together, and the total would still be less than this cycle’s fundraising. And there’s over 100 days left to go before the election.
That leaves Jordan’s opponents with some major ground to cover in the next few months. Democratic Candidate Shannon Freshour reported just over $700,000 raised by the end of June — a less than tenth of Jordan’s total. In comparison, Jordan’s Democratic opponent in 2018, Janet Garrett, reported raising $700,000 by the finish of her campaign.
How effective those campaign dollars will be, however, will depend on where they’re spent. Currently, Jordan has reported spending $6.7 million at this point in the campaign, and the majority of those dollars have been spent outside Ohio — either through political marketing or given to other conservative political operatives and campaigns.
Jordan’s largest payout, for example, has been to Virginia-based Campaign Solutions, a conservative digital marketing company with experience fundraising for recent Republican presidential campaigns as late as 2016. According to the Federal Election Commission, $2.8 million went to the company via Jordan’s campaign.
Typically, Jordan’s Democratic opponents have looked to pressure him by focusing on challenging him on his home turf, but his election record has shown that there hasn’t been much of a dent in his popularity in the 4th District. Last year, Garrett spent $700,000 on her campaign, and Jordan still took the seat by over 30 points.
Libertarian Steve Perkins, whose campaign has reported no financial totals with the FEC, is also on the ballot for Jordan’s seat.
As for other fundraising totals for local Ohio races, Ohio’s 5th Congressional District Rep. Bob Latta reporting receipts of near $1.2 million by the end of the June, and he has over $1 million still available after spending $700,000.
Latta’s Democratic challenger, Nick Rubando, reported raising $150,000 and spending $116,000 leaving him with $32,000 on hand.
