$22.1 million raised in the race for Ohio governor


The general election for Governor of Ohio will take place on Nov. 7, 2022. In total, candidates running for Ohio governor have raised $22.1 million and spent $19.6 million between Jan. 1, 2021, and Jun. 3, 2022.

Here’s the breakdown for the five candidates who are still in the running:

Active Gubernatorial Candidates’ Campaign Finance, 1/1/2021- 6/3/2022

CandidatePartyContributionsExpenditures
Richard Michael DeWine (Incumbent)Republican$12,309,442.69$6,800,936.06
Nan WhaleyDemocratic$4,545,363.45$4,035,743.54
F. Patrick CunnaneIndependent$0.00$0.00
Niel PetersenIndependent$24,812.75$23,965.23
Tim Grady (Write-In)Independent$0.00$0.00

The remaining $5.2 million raised in the race for Ohio governor went to candidates who did not advance to the general election or have withdrawn.

Total fundraising in nine gubernatorial races in the 2022 election cycle

A number of factors, including whether an incumbent officeholder is running for re-election and number of candidates in a race, can influence donor activity. Here is how total fundraising by all candidates for Ohio governor compares to the eight other gubernatorial races with campaign finance data available from Transparency USA for the 2022 election cycle:

RankStateTotal DonationsTotal CandidatesActive CandidatesElection StageAvailable Reporting Period
1Florida$106,753,1151210Primary Election1/1/2021 – 3/31/2022
2Texas$72,717,055245General Election1/1/2021 – 5/14/2022
3Pennsylvania$55,727,674205General Election1/1/2021 – 6/16/2022
4Arizona$24,376,8841512Primary Election1/1/2021 – 3/31/2022
5Ohio$22,113,46895General Election1/1/2021 – 6/3/2022
6Michigan$20,716,429167Primary Election1/1/2021 – 4/20/2022
7California$13,997,678322General Election1/1/2021 – 5/21/2022
8Wisconsin$13,933,407109Primary Election1/1/2021 – 3/13/2022
9Minnesota$8,263,0721411Primary Election1/1/2021 – 3/30/2022

The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active Ohio candidate PACs submitted to the Ohio Secretary of State. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines. State or federal law may require filers to submit additional reports.

Report NameReport Due Date*
2021 Annual1/31/2022
2022 Pre-Primary4/21/2022
2022 Post-Primary6/10/2022
2022 Semiannual7/29/2022
2022 Pre-General10/27/2022
2022 Post-General12/16/2022
*Some Ohio report dates are subject to change due to rescheduled elections

This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. Learn more about our work here.