Former Republican representative Rob Portman will run to succeed Sen. George Voinovich (R) in Ohio, Republican sources tell Politico. Voinovich officially announced earlier today that won’t seek another term in the U.S. Senate.

Portman’s official announcement is expected to take place on Wednesday.

Portman would give Senate Republicans an accomplished candidate who is likely to clear the primary field.

“He’s great on both policy and politics, and you don’t often find that combination,” said Hamilton County Republican party chairman Alex Triantafilou. “His experience in government, his experience in Washington and his understanding of Ohio would make him a tremendous force in the Senate.”

Portman is actually a strong fundraiser, having $1.5 million left in his House campaign committee fund — money that can be transferred for use by his Senate comittee. He served in the House of Representatives until 2005, when he was nominated and confirmed as the United States Trade Representative. In 2006 he was again nominated by President Bush and confirmed by the Senate, this time as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.  He resigned from that position in 2007 to spend more time with his family.

The news of Portman’s run is actually good news for a party that’s already more vulnerable than Democrats in the midterms. Josh Kraushaar notes that while Democrats have many potential candidates, none of them appear to have the same high-level profile as Portman. While you certainly can’t call his district a measure of the state’s leanings, he had enough of a support base to win his last election with 72% of the vote. There are a lot of potential donors in that margin of victory.

What does this mean for conservatives? I’m still looking over Portman’s history, but he doesn’t appear to have been the worst-case scenario. He voted in favor of eliminating capital gains taxes on home sales, supported expanding the cap on 401(k) contributions, and sought to trim unfunded mandates. More when I find it.