A spokesman for former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland says the Democrat has started raising money for a U.S. Senate candidacy, but has yet to decide if he will run.
Democratic communications consultant Dennis Willard says Strickland has raised some initial money while talking to supporters around the state about jumping into the race.
“He’s had a lot of folks come to him to urge him to run; he’s talking to a lot of people around the state; and, in the course of those conversations, he’s raised some money,’’ Willard said.
Strickland, 73, could not be reached for comment, but has said he will decide by the end of the month whether he will enter the race to replace Republican incumbent Rob Portman. Portman is up for re-election next year.
There is already one announced Democratic candidate - Cincinnati council member P.G. Sittenfeld, 30, who announced last month and has raised about $500,000 so far.
Portman, a first-term senator from Terrace Park, had $6 million in his campaign fund by the end of 2014.
Strickland, a former congressman from southeastern Ohio, was ousted from the governor’s office in 2010, when Republican John Kasich defeated him by two percentage points.
