Brown is raising nearly $31 million in the hotly contested Ohio Senate race

Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown's (D) campaign will report raising nearly $31 million in the third quarter of the year, a record-breaking total for one of the country's most critical Senate races this year.

Brown's campaign announced in a news release Wednesday that it raised $30.6 million, the most ever in a quarter for a Senate candidate in Ohio. The amount is a big jump from the roughly $13 million it raised in the second quarter.

“Sherrod has a proven track record of fighting for Ohioans, whether it’s fighting for a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions or saving the pensions of over 100,000 Ohio workers – and that’s why he’s been doing this for the past few months campaign has unprecedented momentum,” Brown's campaign manager Rachel Petri said in the press release.

“Sherrod and Connie are grateful to every supporter and volunteer who ensures Sherrod can continue to fight for all Ohioans,” Petri added, referring to Brown’s wife.

Brown, who has served three terms, is seeking another term in one of the most competitive races in the country. He is running against Republican Bernie Moreno.

Democrats currently hold a narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate, and Republicans are already likely to pick up at least one seat in West Virginia to further narrow the gap. Therefore, Brown's seat is crucial to which party will have the majority in the Senate in the next session of Congress.

Brown is one of two incumbent Democrats, along with Sen. Jon Tester in Montana, who are running in increasingly Republican states and are expected to vote for former President Trump in November.

But Brown has done quite well in polls against Moreno, and many polls show him ahead by several points. But the race has tightened in recent weeks, and he leads by about a point and a half in The Hill/Decision Desk HQ average.

Brown has also built a significant fundraising advantage over Moreno, raising a few times as much as the Republican candidate in the second quarter.

But the race is still expected to be very close as both parties focus their attention on it.

Moreno's campaign has not yet announced its fundraising numbers for the third quarter, the last before the election.

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