9-1-1: Frank LaRose’s Campaign on “Life Support”
October 17, 2023
After A “Weak” Q3 Fundraising Haul, GOP Political Operatives Question The “Viability” Of LaRose’s Senate Candidacy
Columbus, OH – Frank LaRose’s campaign is on “life support” as he faces a series of scandals and fundraising woes, leading Ohio Republicans to question the “viability” of his Senate campaign. In Q3, LaRose raised less than $792,000 in contributions – falling far behind his mega millionaire opponents who both self-funded $3 million.
LaRose’s Senate campaign has faced an onslaught of controversies since he launched his campaign. After his amendment flopped in August, pundits noted LaRose was “the biggest loser” – saying he had a “cloud of Issue 1 above his head” and while noting “some political humiliations last forever.” In the last month, LaRose has come under fire for moving the Secretary of State’s office to his campaign HQ – costing Ohioans $600,000 – while his official office is in disarray and “plague[d]” by turnover as LaRose is “laser focused” on his Senate campaign
Here’s what they’re saying about LaRose’s Senate campaign on “life support”:
- Cleveland.com: “Unless something changes dramatically, Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s U.S. Senate campaign is in serious financial trouble with the Republican primary election just months away…”
- GOP Political Operative: “People are free to run if they choose to, but the viability of this candidacy is on life support.”
- The Columbus Dispatch: “Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is struggling to keep up with his wealthy Republican opponents… It takes money to run in a competitive federal race, and LaRose doesn’t have much of it.”
- Statehouse News Bureau: “Campaign finance filings show LaRose last in list of Ohio’s 2024 candidates for US Senate.”
- NBC News: “LaRose’s name recognition from winning two statewide campaigns made him the early front-runner in polling, but his first quarter as a Senate candidate produced numbers that have Republicans wondering how long he will last. “
- GOP Political Operative:“Based on the latest [Federal Election Commission] filings, it’s going to be hard for Frank LaRose to compete with Moreno and Dolan’s millions.”
- Spectrum News: Frank LaRose Struggles to Raise Money, Threatening His Senate Campaign
Jake Zuckerman, Cleveland.com Politics Reporter: “He is just not fundraising to keep up with the other two so it is starting to raise some doubts about the viability of Frank LaRose’s campaign.”
Curtis Jackson, Spectrum News: “[Money] isn’t everything in politics, it’s the only thing.”
And as LaRose’s campaign struggles, the vultures are circling…
- LaRose Spokesman Ben Kindel: “In 2022, Bernie Moreno set millions on fire only to quit before the primary. Matt Dolan also set millions on fire to finish third.”
- Dolan Campaign Strategist: “LaRose fundraising number was underwhelming as expected…”
- LaRose Spokesman Brett Buerck: “…Matt Dolan whose anemic fundraising can only be saved from family money despite running for the U.S. Senate for multiple years. Frank’s other primary opponent, who did not have the political courage and belief in his own campaign to make it to the primary in 2022, is also setting millions of his own money on fire to buy a Senate seat.”
- Dolan campaign after Moreno decided after all to write himself a fat check and try to buy Ohio’s Senate seat: “Bernie Moreno pledged to Ohioans on numerous occasions that he wouldn’t self-fund his campaign. What’s clear is that the former used car dealer’s credibility is eroding as quickly as his donor support.”
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