The Fix is in.

And they keep giving Rob Portman some love.

Republicans have reason to feel good about where they stand in the Buckeye State's open seat race. Former Rep. Rob Portman (R) continues to prove himself to be in a class of his own in terms of fundraising in the race; his $1.7 million raised in the second quarter was hundreds of thousands more than the combined total collected by Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher (D) and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (D). While Brunner continues to insist she is staying in the race, her back-to-back lackluster fundraising periods send a different message. Democrats acknowledge that Fisher is not the most charismatic candidate in the world but believe Portman's time spent in the Bush administration will come back to haunt him next November.

The Washington Post once again has some good words to say about Portman. Of course, it's hard to knock a guy who has raised $1.7 million in one quarter. The only thing missing from the analysis is the question of how Tom Ganley will effect the GOP primary, if at all.

One interesting thing to consider with all the talk of fundraising numbers is where John Kasich may stand relative to Portman's take. Reporting for federal candidates like Portman was over a 3-month period, so he averaged about $565,000 a month.

With the June 30th deadline to submit fundraising reports, Kasich only had 30 days since his announcement before reporting his numbers. So the question is this - how will he fare over the course of just one month?

My understanding is the Kasich team hasn't had one major fundraiser yet. With that taken into consideration I think it's safe to say anything over 500k would be a major success, especially when you take into account the major slaps on the back Portman is getting nationally for averaging 565k a month.

Numbers should be coming out soon, so keep an eye out.