{"id":202277,"date":"2026-02-03T21:41:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T02:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=202277"},"modified":"2026-02-04T21:59:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T02:59:15","slug":"nearly-800000-raised-so-far-in-ohio-senate-seat-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/02\/03\/nearly-800000-raised-so-far-in-ohio-senate-seat-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Nearly $800K raised in Ohio Senate race"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong><em>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With approximately three months to go until the May 5 primary election and nine months until the November general election, it appears the race for Ohio\u2019s First District Senate seat will be an expensive one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Tuesday, Republican State Senate candidate Craig Riedel\u2019s camp announced that, as of the most recent campaign finance filings, his campaign had raised a total of&nbsp;$418,720.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"350\" height=\"293\" src=\"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Riedel-Hoops-pic-e1770260257666.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-202269\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Between the two, Craig Riedel (left) and Jim Hoops (right) have raised nearly $800,000 in the race for the GOP nod in the race for Ohio&#8217;s First District Senate seat. <em>Photos provided<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cDanette and I have been humbled by the outpouring of support that our campaign has received from so many hardworking, patriotic northwest Ohioans,\u201d Riedel said in a press release. \u201cSince entering the race last April, we\u2019ve knocked over 11,000 doors, attended countless community events, and raised the funds needed to communicate our message to voters in all 10 counties in this district.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, a press release issued by Jim Hoops, who is a current state representative and is also seeking the GOP nod for the First District Senate seat, said that his annual campaign finance report shows&nbsp;more than $380,000 cash-on-hand for the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWith this report, it\u2019s clear that our campaign is prepared, energized, and ready to win,\u201d Hoops said in a press release. \u201cThis level of support allows us to focus on meeting voters where they are and talking about the issues that matter most to Northwest Ohio families.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both men touted endorsements from various elected officials, community leaders and organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Riedel served as State Representative for the 82nd Ohio House District from 2017-2022. At the time, the 82 district included Defiance, Paulding and Van Wert counties, along with some of Auglaize County. In 2022 and 2024, he ran for Ohio\u2019s Ninth District Congressional seat. Hoops is serving his fourth and final full term&nbsp;in the Ohio House, He represents the 81st House District, which consists of all of Fulton, Henry and Williams counties and the northern portion of Defiance County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of Tuesday afternoon, no Democrats had filed petitions to run for the seat. The filing deadline is 4 p.m. today (Wednesday).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ohio\u2019s First Senate District includes all of Defiance, Fulton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Paulding, Putnam, Van Wert and Williams counties, along with the northern portion of Logan County. The seat is currently held by State Senator and Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, who is unable to seek re-election due to term limits. He\u2019s now the running mate of Republican Vivek Ramaswaney in the race for governor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor With approximately three months to go until the May 5 primary election and nine months until the November general election, it appears the race for Ohio\u2019s First District Senate seat will be an expensive one. On Tuesday, Republican State Senate candidate Craig Riedel\u2019s camp announced that, as of the most recent campaign [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-202277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-10 12:54:09","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202277"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":202341,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202277\/revisions\/202341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}