2018 Elections: DeWine Lugs Giant War Chest Into Governor's Race

COLUMBUS, OH – If you’ve had your television on at all in the past several weeks, you’ve probably noticed that the race for the Ohio governor’s mansion is getting mean. The attack ads between Republican gubernatorial candidates Mike DeWine and Mary Taylor have become purely vicious.

And, it appears the financing to fuel the fiery campaigns remains significant for each of the candidates. According to campaign finance reports filed this week, both camps have plenty of money to spend on advertising in the next 10 days prior to the May 8 primary.

Meanwhile, the race for the Democratic nomination has taken a somewhat gentler tone, though it's still a competitive race. Richard Cordray has outspent his rival Dennis Kucinich, who has made his political fortune by working grassroots campaigns.

The campaigns each filed their pre-primary finance reports on Thursday.

Among the four big campaigns, DeWine and his running mate, Jon Husted, have raised the most – $1.7 million – during the most recent reporting period from Jan. 31 to April 26. He has more than $7.4 million on-hand. The campaign has spent nearly $4.9 million in the reporting period.

Taylor and her running mate, Nathan Estruth, have raised $419,496 in the period and have spent more than $4.9 million. The campaign has just under $2 million on hand.

Among Democrats running for governor, Cordray and his running mate, Betty Sutton, have the biggest campaign war chest. The Cordray campaign has raised nearly $1.37 million in that period and spent nearly $1.73 million. The campaign has $1.65 million on hand.

Cordray's biggest rival is Kucinich, a popular former U.S. congressman from Lakewood. Kucinich’s campaign has raised $592,126 in the period and far underspent Cordray at just $342,372. His campaign has $249,754 on hand.

Two other Democrats in the race, state Sen. Joe Schiavoni and former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O’Neill, have lagged behind in both fundraising and expenditures.

Schiavoni has raised $87,104 and spent $290,806. He has $72,959 on hand. O’Neill, meanwhile, has raised $68,267 and spent $78,942. He has $5,324 on hand.

And while the bulk of voters wait to cast their ballots until primary day, thousands of Ohioans already have voted, according to Secretary of State Jon Husted's office. (Yes, that's the same Jon Husted who is DeWine's running mate.)

The Secretary of State's office reported 63,253 absentee ballots have been cast, as of April 20. At the same time in the last governor's race, in 2014, some 73,000 votes had been cast.

Watch: Recent campaigns ads by the DeWine and Taylor campaigns

Image via Mary Taylor campaign ad