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Asking people for money is rarely fun.
It's probably more challenging if you're wealthy but still are asking for campaign contributions.
Several of the wealthiest Ohio Republican candidates for U.S. Senate are skipping those awkward discussions and writing their own checks, self-funding campaigns or at least coming as close as possible.
If you didn't know better, you'd think several of these Republican candidates are trying to buy the seat.
Of course, we do know better. But the candidates have money to spend -- with plenty left over -- so that's what they're doing.
Mike Gibbons, an investment banker, is leading the Republican field in self-funding. He gave a staggering $11.4 million of his own money to his campaign in 2021, according to the latest Federal Election Commission reports.
He's spent a lot on television commercials. Gibbons was the first Senate candidate to air commercials and has been doing it for months as part of a $10 million buy even though the primary isn't until May 3.
Back in October, when he already had put $7.89 million of his own money into his campaign, I asked Gibbons about self-funding.
He said: "If I spend time raising money, it's time I am not talking to voters. I'm sure once I'm in the lead it will be a lot easier to raise funds."
Various polls by the candidates show Gibbons' strategy is working as he's in the top three of most of them.
But I seriously doubt money will flow to Gibbons' campaign if he wins the primary. How much money could Gibbons raise when donors recognize he can fund his campaign without their help?
FEC reports show Gibbons and three other Republican candidates for Senate gave $29.14 million combined to their campaigns in 2021, including $13.74 million in the final two weeks of December.
Those four candidates likely are among the top 10 self-funding candidates running for a U.S. Senate seat in the country.
State Sen. Matt Dolan was a late arrival to the Senate race, announcing his candidacy in September.
But he's making up for lost time. Dolan, whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians baseball team, has given $10.49 million of his own money to the campaign.
I'm sure there's plenty of Cleveland sports fans who are wondering why his family doesn't pay for more quality players.
Dolan raised $363,733 from donors for his entire campaign.
Businessman Bernie Moreno gave $3.75 million to his campaign, including $750,000 in the last quarter.
The day before the fourth quarter report was released, Moreno's campaign had the gall to send a news release that the campaign brought in over $1.05 million. It neglected to mention that Moreno provided an overwhelming amount of it, and only $300,789 was from donors. He dropped out of the race late Thursday.
It was the same line from former Ohio Republican Party Chairwoman Jane Timken.
The day before she filed her latest report, her campaign said she raised more than $2.1 million.
The statement neglected to say Timken gave $1.5 million out of her pocket in the fourth quarter, specifically on Dec. 31. (She's given $3.5 million overall to her campaign.)
Without self-funding, Timken has raised about $3.4 million. That's less than half of her total amount.
Former state Treasurer Josh Mandel and J.D. Vance, an author and venture capitalist, who are both seeking the Republican nomination and also are very rich, have the benefits of outside groups pouring in millions of dollars to support them.
It makes what U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, the leading Democrat seeking the Senate office, is doing all the more impressive. Ryan has raised more than $8.5 million from donors.
The $2,904,653 Ryan raised in the fourth quarter was about $270,000 more than all of the other Senate candidates combined received from donors -- meaning self-funding isn't included.
Also, among those who gave under $200 in the fourth quarter, Ryan received $1,266,665. That's more than three times the amount all the other Senate candidates raised from what are considered small money donors. It's those small money donors from Ohio who vote.
Ryan faces an uphill climb in the Senate race as Ohio has been a Republican-controlled state for several years. But the money that Ryan, who was a weak fundraiser during his time in the U.S. House, is raising for the Senate race is very impressive.
Skolnick covers politics for The Vindicator and the Tribune Chronicle.
dskolnick@vindy.com