Senate Dems' campaign arm endorses Ted Strickland

The Senate Democrats' campaign arm announced Tuesday that it would back ex-Ohio governor Ted Strickland in the 2016 Senate race — a promise that will likely bring with it millions of dollars in ad spending and other financial support.

The announcement by the national party is another blow to Cincinnati City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld, who is also vying for the Democratic nomination. Strickland and Sittenfeld are competing for the chance to go up against Republican Sen. Rob Portman in the general election.

"Ted Strickland has a long record of fighting for working folks in Ohio, and there is no question that he is the strongest candidate to defeat Rob Portman," Tom Lopach, executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a statement Tuesday morning.

The Democratic and Republican senatorial committees will both play a major role in the Ohio race, which is already seen as a crucial 2016 battlefield for control of the Senate. In 2014, the DSCC spent nearly $170 million on a bevy of key Senate races around the country, while the National Republican Senatorial Committee spent $130 million, according to a tally by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign finance.

The DSCC's announcement comes one day after Sen. Sherrod Brown, Ohio's top Democrat, endorsed Strickland over Sittenfeld.

Together, the announcements by Brown and the DSCC make it clear that Democrats want to clear the field for Strickland and avoid a bitter primary that could leave their candidate bruised for the general election.

So far, though, Sittenfeld has signaled that he plans to stay in the race. On Monday, he touted his plans for a campaign tour of the state, and last week, he seemed to take a subtle jab at Strickland by telling supporters that he was the candidate who could provide "new ideas" and "re-energize the Democratic Party."

"I'm all in," Sittenfeld said in an e-mail to his followers.