Uncategorized

And The Infighting Escalates…

Columbus, OH – With four days left until Ohioans decide on State Issue 1, the entire primary field for Ohio’s Senate seat is making it clear they support dangerous abortion bans and won’t fight for Ohioans. And with less than 5 months until this slugfest comes to a close, the infighting is only escalating with more attacks, lies about State Issue 1, and even calls for resignations this week.

Here’s what you missed this week in what has already been called one of the “messiest, “most expensive” and “bruising” primary battles in the country. 

#OHSEN FIELD SUPPORTS DANGEROUS ABORTION BANS

As Ohioans vote to protect their reproductive rights, Frank LaRose, Bernie Moreno, and Matt Dolan have made it clear they support a national abortion ban. And make no mistake, by opposing the November amendment, the #OHSEN primary field supports upholding the current restrictive law in Ohio – which bans abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest. Here’s what you need to know:

Bernie Moreno supports a national abortion ban and does not support exceptions for rape, incest, or life of the mother.

Frank LaRose supports a national abortion ban, opposes exceptions for rape or incest, and celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade. LaRose also said he supports Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blockade of top military confirmations – saying Tuberville’s position is “the same position I would support in the Senate.”

Matt Dolan celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade, calling it “exciting.” Dolan has said defeating the November amendment is a “priority” and is open to supporting a national abortion ban

FRANK LAROSE PURPOSEFULLY SILENCING AND MISLEADING OHIOANS

It’s a day that ends in Y, which means Frank LaRose is once again trying to silence and mislead Ohioans. What you need to know about how LaRose and the No side has run a misinformation campaign every step of the way. 

1. LaRose made himself the face of a $18 million August special election designed to silence Ohioans and benefit special interests and admitted it was “100%” about abortion.
   
2. After LaRose’s amendment in August flopped, LaRose “twist[ed]” the abortion ballot language to intentionally mislead Ohioans. A recent report shows the “inaccurate and inflammatory” language could have a “big effect” on support for Issue 1.
   
3. LaRose “quietly purged” nearly 27,000 of voters from Ohio’s voting system… leaving purged voters little-to-no time to re-register and cast their ballots by 11/7.  

Ohioans to Frank LaRose…

BERNIE SAID WHAT???

NBC yesterday published a must-read report on Bernie Moreno doubling down in support of dangerous abortion bans without exceptions for rape while spreading misinformation about State Issue 1. 

Bernie Moreno (falsely) on Issue 1: “It’s about having that girl be able to be raped and having a rapist force her to have an abortion — all without your consent — as a minor.”

Experts note Moreno’s claims are categorically false while Moreno makes it clear how out-of-step he is. 

THE INFIGHTING JUST GETS WORSE IN THIS SLUGFEST 

LaRose, who employees note is “laser-focused” on his Senate campaign and advancing his political ambitions, has been repeatedly accused of dropping the ball on his official Secretary of State duties and wasting taxpayer dollars to support his political ambitions. 

And Bernie Moreno is now joining Ohioans by calling out LaRose for his incompetence.  

This week, Moreno filed campaign paperwork with LaRose’s office, but noted he doesn’t trust LaRose’s ability to remain impartial and requested LaRose to recuse himself from the verification process. 

Can you blame him?

LaRose moved his official office to his campaign HQ – costing taxpayers $600,000, promoted his campaign in his official newsletter, and has been accused of making the impartial position “increasingly partisan” by former staffers. 

Moreno’s campaign also cited LaRose threatening Trump and took it one step further by calling on LaRose to resign…

A source close to the LaRose campaign: “If you are the president and you are fighting four legal battles, most of them centered around the validity of the election − and you’re most likely going to be on the general election ballot in a state you cannot win the White House without − are you going to do anything to antagonize the guy counting the votes?“

It’s clear this slugfest is only getting messier… 

WATCH MORE HERE:

WHILE YOU’RE EATING YOUR LEFTOVER HALLOWEEN CANDY…

Check out Disney’s Hocus Pocus Reimagined: The Senate Sisters Try To Make Ohioans’ Rights *Disappear*

SLUGFEST COUNTDOWN

138 days left until this Slugfest comes to a head and the infighting just keeps getting worse. 

WHAT OHIOANS ARE READING ABOUT THIS SLUGFEST

NBC News: Ohio GOP Senate candidate says ballot measure would let a rapist ‘force’ a woman to get an abortion

Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Senate 2024: Bernie Moreno doesn’t want Frank LaRose to touch his campaign paperwork

Ohio Capital Journal: Ohio GOP politicians have gone to extraordinary lengths to subvert and deceive on Issue 1

Cleveland.com: Ohio Republican U.S. Senate candidates back military action in Mexico, declaring cartels terrorists. How serious is that?

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Bernie Moreno on Frank LaRose’s costly office move: “When you don’t know how to negotiate and you’re spending $600,000 to move your office to save 11 grand a year, you’re not somebody who’s serious about cutting spending.”  

###

As Ohioans Vote to Protect Their Reproductive Rights, Bernie Moreno, Frank LaRose, and Matt Dolan Support A National Abortion Ban

Columbus, OH – Today, Mini Timmaraju, President and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All, and Dr. Kale Turner, an Ohio OBGYN, discussed the importance of voting Yes on State Issue 1 and electing a U.S. Senator in 2024 who will protect Ohioans’ reproductive rights. The entire field running for Ohio’s Senate seat supports dangerous abortion bans and would overrule Ohioans if elected by voting for a federal ban.

“When abortion is on the ballot, abortion wins. But even if we secure victory, there’s another fight coming swiftly on the horizon,” said Mini Timmaraju, President and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All. “That’s because all of the Republican candidates running for U.S. Senate support dangerous abortion bans and would vote for a national ban that could overrule the protections Ohioans will secure next Tuesday.”

“Passing State Issue 1 is our chance to overturn Ohio’s dangerous ban and get politicians out of the doctors’ office,” said Dr. Kale Turner, an OBGYN based in Columbus. “But I want to be clear, our job isn’t over even if State Issue 1 passes. Because next year, whoever Ohioans elect as their next U.S. Senator could be the deciding vote on passing a national abortion ban – which would override Ohioans and be devastating for families across the country.”

The entire #OHSEN field supports dangerous abortion bans – including bans without exceptions for rape or incest – and have said they would overrule Ohioans by voting for a national ban if elected:

• Bernie Moreno supports a national abortion ban and does not support exceptions for rape, incest, or life of the mother.

• Frank LaRose supports a national abortion ban and opposes exceptions for rape or incest. LaRose rewrote the abortion ballot language to intentionally mislead and silence Ohioans. A new poll recently found LaRose’s language has a “big effect” on support for State Issue 1 and could be “critical” to the outcome despite a majority of Ohioans supporting abortion rights.

• Matt Dolan celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade, calling it “exciting.” Dolan has said defeating the November amendment is a priority, and is open to supporting a national abortion ban.

###

Columbus, OH – NBC News has the below must-read report on this interview where Bernie Moreno goes to new lengths to lie about Issue One and doubles down in support of dangerous abortion bans without exceptions, even in cases of rape. As Ohioans vote to protect their reproductive rights, the entire #OHSEN field opposes State Issue 1, supports dangerous abortion bans, and have said they would override Ohioans by voting for a national abortion ban if elected.

Read more: 

NBC News First Read:

NBC News: Ohio GOP Senate candidate says ballot measure would let a rapist ‘force’ a woman to get an abortion

Adam Edelman

November 2, 2023

• Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno falsely claimed in a recent interview that Issue 1 — the ballot measure seeking to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution — would allow a rapist to “force” a woman to have an abortion.

• Nonpartisan legal experts say his remarks are rife with inaccuracies and falsehoods.

• Thomas explained that the claim that a woman’s rapist could somehow manipulate that law to force his victim to have an abortion is also false.

• For months, groups and individuals opposed to Issue 1 have argued that the proposed amendment is intentionally worded to be interpreted to allow minors to obtain abortion care and undergo gender-affirming surgery without parental consent or notification. But, as NBC News reported in July, nonpartisan experts say those claims, too, are inaccurate and misleading. Reproductive rights advocates argue that they are misdirection designed to distract voters from protecting abortion rights — which polling in Ohio shows voters support.

• Moreno campaign spokesperson Conor McGuinness said in a statement that Moreno was “proud to stand up in defense of parental consent,” and “Issue 1 clearly states that a third party who ‘assists’ a minor in getting an abortion will be protected.”

• Issue 1 supporters argue that rejecting it would most likely have a harmful impact on rape victims seeking abortion care.

• In a statement, Brown campaign manager Rachel Petri said, “All of Sherrod’s opponents want to make Ohio women’s personal health care decisions for them, and Bernie Moreno has made it clear he opposes all abortion exceptions, even in cases of rape.”

###

LaRose’s Putting His Political Ambitions Ahead of Ohioans To Ban Abortion

Columbus, OH – With less than a week left until Ohioans will decide on a ballot amendment to protect reproductive rights and overturn the state’s abortion ban, Frank LaRose is under fire for going to “extraordinary lengths” to intentionally silence and mislead Ohioans.

First, LaRose spearheaded August’s State Issue 1, an amendment designed to silence Ohioans and benefit special interests – admitting it was “100%” about abortion. When that failed, LaRose rewrote the ballot language for State Issue 1 in November to be  “intentionally misleading.” Recent polls show that LaRose’s language has a measurable impact on support for State Issue 1 when compared to the original ballot language and could be “critical” to the outcome despite a majority of Ohioans supporting abortion rights. Then, in the 11th hour, LaRose “quietly purged” thousands of Ohio voters after early voting for the November 7th election had already started. 

LaRose has already said he would override Ohioans by voting for a national abortion ban and does not support exceptions for rape or incest. 

What Ohioans are reading about Frank LaRose’s efforts to intentionally silence and mislead Ohioans this week:

MSNBC: “In related news, Ohio’s Republican secretary of state, Frank LaRose, purged thousands of voter registrations ahead of a statewide vote on abortion rights. A report in The New Republic noted that LaRose took these steps in September, but he “did not publicly announce his decision at the time and only acknowledged it when local outlets began reporting it last week.”

Ohio Capital Journal: Ohio GOP politicians have gone to extraordinary lengths to subvert and deceive on Issue 1

Marilou Johanek

October 31, 2023

• Quietly purging nearly 27,000 Ohioans from the voter rolls late last month, even as some voting had already begun in the Nov. 7 election, was dirty pool. The questionably timed expulsion of inactive voters — ahead of a statewide vote on abortion rights — was ordered by a vocal opponent of that ballot referendum without the usual public notice before or after the cancellation of thousands of registrations.

• Voters who didn’t know they’d been canceled by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and didn’t quickly re-register before Oct. 10 — just 12 days after the purge — cannot vote in the upcoming election. They will not have a voice in deciding, among other issues, whether the right to abortion in Ohio should be constitutionally protected or banned by Republican fiat.

• LaRose has demonstrated he will stop at nothing to keep Ohio women from making their own private medical decisions.

Cleveland.com: Frank LaRose’s stealth purge of voters right before the Nov. 7 election: editorial

Editorial Board

October 29, 2023

• Frank LaRose’s decision to push through a purge of 26,666 Ohio voters on Sept. 27, five days after the military and overseas voting process began for the Nov. 7 election — without, it would seem, the usual advance notice to community groups to help ensure accuracy and public awareness — raises red flags.

• This latest purge had originally been scheduled for July 20, but LaRose delayed it to Sept. 27 after the Aug. 8 special election was set. Yet the military and overseas absentee voting process for Nov. 7 started Sept. 22, so the purge happened while that was underway. Why not push the whole matter off until after Nov. 7?

• Frank LaRose owes it to the 26,666 voters he just removed from Ohio’s voting rolls, including more than 2,000 in Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina and Portage counties, and thousands more in Franklin and Hamilton counties, to explain clearly why it had to be done now, in this way, and without, it would seem, the usual advance notice.

The New Republic: Ohio Prepares for Abortion Election by Kicking Thousands off Voting Rolls

Tori Otten

October 30, 2023

• Secretary of State Frank LaRose ordered that 26,666 voter registrations be purged in late September. He did not publicly announce his decision at the time and only acknowledged it when local outlets began reporting it last week. Those who were purged cannot re-register to vote in time for the abortion ballot measure on November 7.

• But LaRose’s refusal to be transparent around his decision should come as no surprise. He and his fellow state Republicans have been actively working to undermine local democracy over the abortion referendum.

• Republicans initially tried to raise the threshold for constitutional amendments to a 60 percent vote, instead of a simple majority. This would have paved the way for minority rule in the state. The state GOP argued the amendment was needed to protect the state Constitution from the influence of special interest groups, but LaRose later admitted the move was “100 percent” about blocking the abortion amendment.

Politico: Abortion referendum offers Ohio Democrats a playbook for ’24

Alice Ollstein and Madison Fernandez

October 29, 2023

• LaRose launched his Senate campaign just before spearheading an August special election to raise the threshold for ballot initiatives, a failed gambit he acknowledged was “100 percent” aimed at stymying the abortion rights referendum.

• But an October poll conducted by Baldwin Wallace University suggests LaRose’s argument may not be resonating with its intended audience.

###

And Other Notable Tricks on Halloween…

Columbus, OH – With one week left until Ohioans decide on a ballot measure to protect reproductive rights and overturn the state’s current dangerous abortion ban, the entire field running for Ohio’s senate seat wants to *hocus pocus* Ohioans’ rights away. 

Disney’s Hocus Pocus Reimagined: The Senate Sisters Try To Make Ohioans’ Rights *Disappear*

Here’s a reminder of the #OHSEN field’s *scary* attempts to make Ohioans’ rights disappear:

• The entire #OHSEN primary field opposes the November amendment and therefore supports upholding the current restrictive law in Ohio – which bans abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest.

• Bernie Moreno supports a national abortion ban and does not support exceptions for rape, incest, or life of the mother.

• Frank LaRose supports a national abortion ban and opposes exceptions for rape or incest. LaRose spearheaded August’s State Issue 1 which would have benefitted special interests, silenced Ohioans, and made it harder to pass Issue 1 in November – admitting it was “100%” about abortion. When that flopped, Frank LaRose “twist[ed]” the ballot language for the November amendment to purposefully mislead and “confuse” Ohioans. A new poll recently found LaRose’s language has a measurable impact on support for State Issue 1 when compared to the original ballot language. LaRose also said he supports Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blockade of top military confirmations – saying Tuberville’s position is “the same position I would support in the Senate.”

• Matt Dolan celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade, calling it “exciting.” Dolan has said defeating the November amendment is a priority, and is open to supporting a national abortion ban.

Trick or Treat? This field always picks “trick…” 🎃  

• Frank LaRose “dove deep into [his] bag of tricks” to deceive voters by rewriting the November ballot language to intentionally mislead Ohioans.

• Bernie Moreno tricked Ohioans when he said, “I’m not going to take personal wealth and buy a Senate seat” before writing himself a $3 million check.

• Matt Dolan is using a too-good-to-be-true “cheap loan” to bankroll his campaign, a trick  keeping his second Senate campaign afloat.

###