Secretary of State Frank LaRose needed to raise an impressive amount of money in his first filing quarter for the U.S. Senate to show not only that he can compete with the two wealthy Republican candidates in the race but with incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown.

But when the financial numbers came out for the third quarter, LaRose reported raising $791,657 from donors while the two other GOP Senate candidates, Bernie Moreno and Matt Dolan, received more.

Moreno raised $1,192,655 from donors in the third quarter and Dolan got $1,107,341 from contributors.

Also, Moreno and Dolan each gave $3 million to their campaigns in the third quarter. LaRose gave $250,000 to his campaign.

LaRose told me in April before his Senate campaign announcement, “The one thing I lack is what those two candidates have in abundance and that is personal wealth. I don’t have that, and I also don’t think that only wealthy people should be able to run for the U.S. Senate.”

I questioned how LaRose could come up with $250,000 out of his pocket for his Senate campaign. But Ben Kindel, his campaign spokesman, didn’t respond to my numerous inquiries.

Moreno’s campaign said it “was so surprised” to see LaRose write a $250,000 check and questioned whether he lied about his finances.

Money isn’t the only thing that leads to success in political campaigns, but it sure helps a lot.

Dolan put $10.6 million of his own money into last year’s Republican Senate primary and finished third.

J.D. Vance, who won the 2022 primary and the general election, was outraised by his opponents. But he had significant help from special interest groups and the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

As of Sept. 30, LaRose had $868,679 in his campaign fund compared with $6,741,852 for Dolan and $5,006,933 for Moreno.

LaRose’s campaign put out a memo from Brett Buerck, its political strategist, after the filing pointing to the Leadership for Ohio Fund, which is backing LaRose, raising about $950,000 during the first half of the year.

The Buerck memo touted how much money LaRose raised in his first filing quarter compared with Dolan from donors. It ignored that Moreno raised about three times as much as LaRose did in the former’s initial filing quarter, which was April to June.

The memo also stated that internal polling shows LaRose with a strong lead in the race — as internal polls often show.

I’m not dismissing LaRose’s chances, but the March 2024 primary is closing in fast.

In order to compete with Dolan’s fortune, Moreno was going to have to put his own personal wealth into the campaign even though he said on April 18, when he announced for the seat, “I don’t think it’s right — I think it’s fundamentally bad for democracy — for wealthy people; they’ve got their checkbook, to buy a Senate seat. That’s not right. I won’t do that.”

A day later, Moreno said he wasn’t going to “buy a Senate seat” and repeated it May 16.

When I pointed that out to his campaign, the response was that on May 16 Moreno also said: “I’ll put in money. I put in money last time, but I’m not just going to exclusively rely on that.”

Moreno gave $3 million to his campaign Sept. 30, the last day of the third quarter. He’s raised $3.45 million from donors so far.

Moreno gave $3.81 million of his own money to his Senate campaign in 2022 and raised $2.85 million. He dropped out of that race two days after the filing deadline.

In a recent email, Moreno’s campaign wrote that he has “continued to dominate the Ohio GOP primary Senate campaign,” and that “from the beginning, LaRose’s campaign has been immersed in scandal, political ineptitude and negative press.”

Chris Maloney, a Dolan campaign strategist, said: “Bernie Moreno pledged to Ohioans on numerous occasions that he wouldn’t self-fund his campaign. What’s clear is that the former used car dealer’s credibility is eroding as quickly as his donor support. Now, as Frank LaRose’s fundraising woes continue to mount, Matt Dolan has continued to lead in grassroots support, endorsements and cash on hand.”

Meanwhile, Brown continues to break fundraising records, collecting $5.8 million in the third quarter and has raised $14.41 million so far this year. He had $11.23 million in his fund as of Sept. 30.