Brunner has just $80k for stretch run of Ohio Senate primary

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is going to have to win the Democratic nomination without TV.

Brunner's first-quarter FEC totals are in, and she had less than $80,000 cash on hand as of March 31. Meanwhile, her Democratic Senate primary opponent, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, had $1.8 million on hand with about a month to go in their May 4 primary.

Brunner, who has been unable to raise serious money at any point in her campaign, pulled together about $144,000 for the quarter.

The totals mean that, if Brunner is to somehow pull an upset in the race, it's going to have be a total grassroots-oriented upset. She will not be able to go up with any sort of sustained media buy, and Fisher will be able to drown out her messaging in the closing weeks if he wants to.

Recent polling has shown Brunner is still within single digits of Fisher, but that was before Fisher went up with his own TV ads in recent days.

The winner gets former Rep. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) in the general election. Sen. George Voinovitch (R-Ohio) is retiring.