COLUMBUS — The Democratic candidate for the only open seat on the Ohio Supreme Court raised more than half a million dollars in less than four months, according to campaign finance reports filed Thursday with the Secretary of State's office.

        Judge Tim Black of the Hamilton County Municipal Court raised $545,133 during the Jan. 31 to April 17 reporting period and has $478,757 on hand after expenses, mainly because of large contributions from law firms, labor groups and fellow residents of Cincinnati.

        “It proves the point that we're going to win this race,” Judge Black said. “It's a great start, and we're on track to be fully funded.”

        His opponent, Lt. Gov. Maureen O'Connor, a Republican from Akron, raised $128,695 during the same period, and has $104,373 in her account after expenses. Her campaign fund is made up of donations mostly from individuals, with some large contributions from insurance companies and other businesses.

        In the state's gubernatorial race, Democratic challenger Tim Hagan has $146,686 available, compared with Gov. Bob Taft's $6.1 million purse.

        Other statewide races also saw Republicans ahead of Democrats in terms of how much money each had in their campaign coffers. However, many Democrats brought in more money than their Republican opponents during the 15-week reporting period.

        Both Democrats and Republicans caution that it's still early in the fund-raising season. They say most candidates are shoring up money for November races because they aren't facing opponents in primaries.

        The race for state treasurer is the only statewide race in which Republican and Democratic candidates have close to the same amount of money available.

        Joe Deters, the Republican incumbent and former Hamilton County prosecutor, reported having $206,530 available, compared with $152,661 on hand for challenger Mary Boyle, a Democrat.

        However, Mr. Deters' report shows that his campaign recently spent $1.25 million to reserve time for television commercials to air throughout the state before the Nov. 5 general election

        Robert Bennett, executive director of the Ohio Republican Party, said much of the Republican candidates' fund-raising success so far partly can be attributed to the fact that most are incumbents or are statewide officeholders simply running for a different seat.

        The Republican House and Senate caucuses had $2.7 million and $2 million in their respective coffers, while the Democratic House caucus reported having $304,023 and the Democratic Senate caucus, $312,296.

        Judge Black and Ms. O'Connor are running against each other in November for the seat held by Justice Andy Douglas, a Republican who turns 70 in July, the mandatory retirement age for justices.

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