Fans take photos of and reach for handshakes from Illinois Sen. Barack Obama at Cuyahoga Community College East in Highland Hills, Ohio. The Democratic presidential contender raised hundreds of thousands of dollars at fundraisers in Cincinnati and Columbus yesterday. It was his first campaign trek across Ohio. Scott Shaw • The Plain Dealer via AP

The senator from Illinois, a Punahou graduate, raised more than $450,000 at fundraisers in Cincinnati and Columbus yesterday before collecting even more at an appearance in suburban Cleveland. A message seeking the amount raised was left at Obama's campaign headquarters in Chicago.

"I'm going to be spending a lot of time in Ohio so that people are familiar with me, so that by the time I'm the Democratic nominee they don't feel like I'm just parachuting in but that they've heard me and had a chance to kick the tires and lift the hood," Obama told reporters after the event in Columbus.

In his three stops to the state's largest cities, Obama covered a wide range of topics, including ending the war in Iraq — which received the loudest cheer at the Cleveland-area rally — developing universal healthcare and improving early childhood education.