“National Democrats are heaping praise on their nominee for U.S. Senate in Ohio, lauding Rep. Tim Ryan’s spirited debate performances, his outside-the-box television ads, his aggressive campaign schedule and his robust fundraising,” the Washington Post reports.

“But they’re not spending big money in his race — prompting Ryan and his allies to complain that national party strategists involved with funding decisions are falling to adequately fund his unexpectedly competitive campaign against Republican J.D. Vance for a seat the GOP is hoping to hold onto in November.”

“J.D., you keep talking about Nancy Pelosi. If you want to run against Nancy Pelosi move back to San Francisco and run against Nancy Pelosi.”

— Ohio U.S. Senate candidate Tim Ryan (D), in opening minutes of tonight’s debate with J.D. Vance (R).

A new USA Today/Suffolk University poll in Ohio finds J.D. Vance (R) has opened a narrow edge over Tim Ryan (D) in the Senate race, 47% to 45%.

Last month, Ryan led 47% to 46% though both findings are within the survey’s 4.4 percentage-point margin of error. 

“A weekend fundraiser for Ohio U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance was abruptly canceled Friday after Spectrum News notified the Vance campaign it would report the host is one of several Ohio pain doctors cited in a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma and others for the amount of opioids they prescribed and the amount of money they received from major drug companies,” Spectrum News reports.

“Democrats across Ohio are pleading for help in the state’s Senate contest, afraid they may lose a winnable election unless national party leaders make major investments in the coming days,” the AP reports.

“So far, the most powerful groups in Democratic politics have prioritized Senate pickup opportunities in North Carolina, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania over Ohio, once a perennial swing state that veered right in the Trump era. But on the eve of the 2022 midterms, some public polls suggest Ohio is as competitive as the other swing states, leaving many Democrats here wondering why their party isn’t backing Senate contender Tim Ryan more forcefully.”

A new Emerson College/The Hill poll in Ohio finds J.D. Vance (R) edging Tim Ryan (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 46% to 45% with 9% still undecided.

“I don’t know anybody I grew up with, I don’t know anybody I went to high school with, that would allow somebody to take their dignity like that and then get back up on stage. We need leaders who have courage to take on their own party, and I’ve proven that. And he was called an ass-kisser by the former president.”

— Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), in his Senate debate last night with J.D. Vance (R).

“Democrats are increasingly fearful that they are squandering a chance to flip a Senate seat in Ohio — a state that once seemed off the map but, according to polls, remains close four weeks from Election Day,” NBC News reports.

“Although the Republican, Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance, has struggled to raise money, national groups have propped up his campaign by pouring in more than $30 million worth of advertising.”

“The lopsided funding has unnerved Democrats in Ohio and across the country, according to interviews with a dozen party leaders and operatives. Many worry that Democrats will regret not doing more to try to pull Ryan ahead of Vance, a right-wing ally of former President Donald Trump.”

Ohio U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance’s (R) non-profit “left only the faintest mark” on Ohio, leaving behind a pair of op-eds and two tweets, the New York Times reports.

“Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), who has made his opponent’s questionable record fighting the opioid epidemic a central theme of his campaign for Ohio’s open U.S. Senate seat, has accepted campaign donations over the years from drug distributors blamed for key roles in the crisis,” the AP reports.

A new Spectrum News/Siena College poll in Ohio finds Tim Ryan (D) leading J.D. Vance (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 46% to 43%.

The poll shows Ryan leading Vance in two crucial voting blocks that will help decide this race: Support from independents (47% to 35%) and women voters (54% to 34%).

For comparison, the FiveThirtyEight polling average shows a dead heat.

“The debate between Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan and Republican J.D. Vance over whether and when to debate each other may finally be over,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

“The two U.S. Senate candidates’ respective campaigns both said Monday they had agreed to two debates next month, one on Oct. 10 in Cleveland and another on Oct. 17 in Youngstown.”

A new Marist poll in Ohio finds J.D. Vance (R) barely ahead of Tim Ryan (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 46% to 45% with 9% still undecided.

For comparison, the FiveThirtyEight polling average shows the race tied.

Tim Ryan (D) slammed J.D. Vance (R) for holding a campaign rally during an Ohio State vs. Toledo game with Donald Trump, but the Daily Mail reports Ryan wasn’t watching the game, either.

A new USA Today/Suffolk University poll in Ohio finds Tim Ryan (D) edging J.D. Vance (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 47% to 46%.

Roughly 6% of voters were undecided.

“A political action committee with close ties to U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is launching a massive new ad campaign in Ohio, a clear sign that national Republicans are shifting more toward playing defense in the Buckeye State,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

“The Senate Leadership Fund is reserving $28 million worth of TV and radio ads that will air statewide, the group announced Thursday. That’s a huge escalation of the roughly $5 million national Republicans have spent in Ohio so far in the race between Republican J.D. Vance and Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan. The ads will start after Labor Day, the unofficial start of the most intense part of a general-election campaign season.”

A new Emerson poll shows Vance leading Ryan by just three points, 45% to 42%.

This is a clear indication Republicans are worried about J.D. Vance’s ability to win in a solid red state.

“Tim Ryan may be running ahead of J.D. Vance in Ohio. But the cavalry is coming to Vance’s rescue,” Politico reports.

“Whether Ryan can survive the coming ad onslaught and keep Ohio’s Senate race surprisingly competitive is an open question. The Democratic congressman is making an appeal to Republicans and independents in hopes he can win in a state that has shifted right in recent years, falling off the center of the battleground map it occupied for so many decades.”

“Independent polling in the race has been scarce so far. But Ryan has staked out a narrow 3-point edge in an internal poll for his campaign obtained exclusively by Politico, taking 48 percent support to Vance’s 45 percent, with 7 percent undecided.”