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Columbus, OH –  Whether it’s supporting restrictive abortion bans, attacking each other for using their mega-fortunes to try to buy Ohio’s Senate seat, or wasting taxpayer funds while being “laser-focused” on climbing the political ladder – it’s been another week filled with #OHSEN Republicans fighting for themselves and not Ohioans. 

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. 

AS OHIOANS PREPARE TO VOTE ON PROTECTING REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS, THE ENTIRE #OHSEN FIELD SUPPORTS ABORTION BANS

Ohioans will vote on an amendment to protect abortion rights in a month and one thing is clear: the entire #OHSEN field supports dangerous abortion bans that would put them in charge of Ohioans’ private healthcare decisions. 

Here’s what you need to know:

At his campaign launch, Bernie Moreno said he is “unequivocally pro-life.” Moreno supports a national abortion ban and does not support exceptions for rape, incest, or the 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 has 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 said defeating the November amendment – which would overturn Ohio’s restrictive abortion law with no exceptions for rape or incest – is a “priority.” 

BERNIE MORENO AND MATT DOLAN EXCHANGE BARBS FOR TRYING TO BUY OHIO’S SENATE SEAT AFTER THEY BOTH TRY TO BUY OHIO’S SENATE SEAT

We figured Bernie Moreno and Matt Dolan would both use their mega millions to try to buy Ohio’s Senate seat, but attacking each other after they both wrote themselves a $3 million check? That’s priceless.

FRANK LAROSE GETS CAUGHT CAMPAIGNING IN TAXPAYER FUNDED OFFICE…

If you thought LaRose couldn’t stoop any lower on his quest to climb the political ladder, you were wrong. This week, after dodging questions for weeks (see below) from Ohioans, media outlets and Ohio lawmakers, a new report from the Ohio Capital Journal caught LaRose campaigning from a taxpayer-funded office – potentially violating Ohio Ethics code. 

WATCH: LAROSE REFUSES TO TELL OHIOANS WHY HE’S WASTING $600,000 OF TAXPAYER MONEY TO BE CLOSER TO HIS CAMPAIGN

THEN… A BOMBSHELL REPORTS SHOWS “TURNOVER PLAGUES” SECRETARY OF STATE’S OFFICE WHILE LAROSE IS “LASER-FOCUSED” ON HIS SENATE CAMPAIGN

After LaRose was in the headlines again for wasting taxpayer funds, a bombshell report detailed how the Secretary of State’s Office is “plague[d]” by turnover as the office is “laser-focused” on supporting LaRose’s campaign for Ohio’s Senate seat. Read more from The Columbus Dispatch:

“Three other former employees say the source of these problems is management laser-focused on electing LaRose as Ohio’s next U.S. senator and unwilling to listen to seasoned election experts. The USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau is not naming the ex-staffers because they fear retaliation.” 

“The staffing challenges also created more opportunities for mistakes. In June, the secretary of state’s office sent the wrong ballot language to county boards of elections for August’s Issue 1.”

“It has been the forefront of everything, whether it was how the office is going to be organized, how the next year and a half are going to go,” the third former employee said. “Everything revolved around the Senate run.” 

WHAT OHIOANS ARE READING ABOUT THE #OHSEN SLUGFEST THIS WEEK

The Messenger: Ohio Senate Candidate Matt Dolan Raises $4.1M in Third Quarter, Takes Aim at Rival

Cleveland.com: Ohio’s November vote on abortion rights is overshadowing the U.S. Senate race. Where do the candidates stand?

Ohio Capital Journal: Even before office move is complete, Ohio Sec. of State LaRose appears to blur ethical lines

Columbus Dispatch: As Frank LaRose eyes U.S. Senate, turnover plagues Ohio secretary of state’s office

SLUGFEST COUNTDOWN

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

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Bernie Moreno on Matt Dolan: “As I say about my other opponent, I had to learn how to play Cowboys and Indians, I guess it was called Cowboys and Guardians in his house.” 

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State Employees Detail Disarray In LaRose’s Secretary of State Office As His Campaign Becomes “Sole Focus”

Columbus, OH – A new bombshell report today is detailing how Frank LaRose’s Secretary of State’s Office – which is funded by taxpayer dollars – is “plague[d]” by turnover as the office is “laser-focused” on supporting his campaign for Ohio’s Senate seat. Throughout the report, state employees detail LaRose’s official office in disarray as high turnover rates continue to lead to  “more opportunities for mistakes” and a “revolving door” where officials were “often not replaced” while LaRose’s campaign is “the office’s sole focus.”

Since launching his Senate campaign, Frank LaRose has been the center of numerous scandals for putting his political ambitions ahead of Ohioans – mostly recently for moving his official office to the same building as his campaign HQ, costing Ohioans $600,000 and potentially violating Ohio Ethics code in the process. A new report today caught LaRose campaigning from the same building housing his Senate campaign. 

LaRose also tied himself to the August election aimed at silencing Ohioans. In the process, LaRose’s office sent the incorrect ballot language out to all 88 county Boards of Elections days before the absentee deadline – a mistake one elections officials anticipated would cost taxpayers “hundreds of thousands of dollars.” 

“This shocking report about turnover and disarray in LaRose’s official office as he campaigns for a promotion just furthers what Ohioans already know: Frank LaRose will do anything to further his political ambitions, no matter how much it hurts – or costs – Ohioans,” said ODP spokesperson Reeves Oyster.

Read more: 

Columbus Dispatch: As Frank LaRose eyes U.S. Senate, turnover plagues Ohio secretary of state’s office

Jessie Balmert and Haley BeMiller

October 4, 2023

• High turnover and low morale have rocked the Ohio secretary of state’s office under Republican Frank LaRose, who has struck an increasingly partisan tone as the state’s election chief amid his bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown next year.

• In recent months, a dozen officials in LaRose’s office who handled elections, communications and other duties have left, taking with them years of experience in running Ohio’s elections. But the staffing problems extend even further, leading to delays and communication problems with local boards of elections. 

• Three other former employees say the source of these problems is management laser-focused on electing LaRose as Ohio’s next U.S. senator and unwilling to listen to seasoned election experts. The USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau is not naming the ex-staffers because they fear retaliation.

• LaRose championed the ballot measure, dubbed Issue 1, as local election officials quietly balked at holding an August election less than one year after the Legislature limited most of them.

• As state election officials left, they were often not replaced, leading to more work for the people who remained, former staff said. Without enough staff in the election division, employees from other parts of the office were pressed into service to help with election night reporting or checking petitions for the two November ballot initiatives on reproductive rights and legalizing marijuana.

• The staffing challenges also created more opportunities for mistakes.  In June, the secretary of state’s office sent the wrong ballot language to county boards of elections for August’s Issue 1.

• But the first former employee said it could have been avoided if the office had been properly staffed. “We were always just putting out fires,” the employee said. “You’d get one fire put out and you’d look behind you and there were three more fires.”

• To some former employees, the decision to leave ERIC was a symptom of a larger problem: The secretary of state’s office was becoming increasingly political. 

• LaRose is running in the 2024 Republican Senate primary against Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno and state Sen. Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls. The people who used to work for him said that race increasingly became the office’s sole focus. 

• “It has been the forefront of everything, whether it was how the office is going to be organized, how the next year and a half are going to go,” the third former employee said. “Everything revolved around the Senate run.”

• The politics of the Senate race also spurred the ouster of LaRose’s former spokesman, Rob Nichols, who worked with Ohio Republicans in Columbus for years. LaRose fired Nichols after his disparaging social media posts about former President Donald Trump surfaced on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

• “With an incumbent, the line has always been fuzzy from their official capacity and their running for election,” Birdsong said.

• High turnover at the secretary of state’s office has led to confusion and delays for local election officials, Auglaize County Board of Elections Director Michelle Wilcox said. Without that institutional knowledge at the state level, they have crowdsourced answers across local boards.  “It’s to keep our heads above water,” said Wilcox, who is a Democrat. “We feel like we’re drowning.”

• The result, the third employee said, is a revolving door: “There’s a definite lack of humanity, and there’s a hubris to that place that’s insufferable.”

See also: NEW: Frank LaRose Caught Campaigning At Taxpayer Funded Office Amid Growing Scandal; Frank LaRose Working to Silence, Overrule Ohioans: A Trip Down Memory Lane; Ohio Lawmakers Call On Frank LaRose To Answer for Latest Scandal Costing Ohioans; Frank LaRose “Dove Deep Into [His] Bag of Tricks” to Mislead and Overrule Ohioans… Again; ICYMI: “Ethics Red Flags” Go Up as Frank LaRose’s “Ability to Do that Job Impartially Has Been Called into Question” [Ohio Capital Journal]; What Ohioans are Saying: LaRose “Abusing His Position as Secretary of State to Overrule Us”; LaRose’s Math Not Adding Up as Taxpayers Cover Steep Cost to Move Secretary of State Office to His Campaign HQ; “A Slap in the Face:” Frank LaRose Not Working for Ohioans; As Scandal Grows, LaRose’s “Answers” Just Raise More Questions About Steep Cost to Move Secretary of State Office to His Campaign HQ; Frank LaRose Still Owes Ohioans Answers After Latest Scandal Surfaces;  A New Scandal For Frank LaRose: Taxpayers Foot Steep Bill to Move Secretary of State Office to Campaign HQ

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Questions “Intensify” As Frank LaRose Potentially Violates Ohio Ethics Code By Campaigning on Ohioans’ Dime 

Columbus, OH – After dodging questions for weeks, a new report from the Ohio Capital Journal shows that Frank LaRose last week “recorded a campaign interview that appeared to take place in the building where he is moving his taxpayer-funded state offices.” In addition to costing taxpayers $600,000 – which will take 54 years to recoup – the report shows LaRose may have violated Ohio Ethics code by soliciting a campaign contribution from a taxpayer-funded building.

As Frank LaRose’s latest scandal grows, he continues to face “intensifying” questions after “blurring ethical lines” and deciding to put his political ambitions ahead of Ohioans. Ethics experts are now joining Ohioans, media outlets, and lawmakers in questioning LaRose’s decision and motives:

Mia Lewis of Common Cause Ohio: “You have to keep the campaign and the government work separate. Once those things start to blur, it becomes harder and harder for voters to trust their elected officials… [LaRose] seems to spend an incredible amount of his time putting his thumb on the scale of one issue or another…How are Ohioans supposed to trust you when you have so much trouble putting the voters first?”

“Frank LaRose’s latest scandal is growing and Ohio taxpayers are footing the bill for his scheme to move the Secretary of State office to the same building as his campaign,” said ODP Spokesperson Reeves Oyster. “Ohioans aren’t buying LaRose’s excuses or his phony math as it becomes clearer every day that LaRose will do whatever it takes to advance his political career, regardless of how much it hurts – or costs – Ohioans.”

Read more:

Ohio Capital Journal: Even before office move is complete, Ohio Sec. of State LaRose appears to blur ethical lines

Marty Schladen

October 5, 2023

• Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose last week recorded a campaign interview that appeared to take place in the building where he is moving his taxpayer-funded state offices. LaRose didn’t respond to questions, but the backdrop of the interview seemed to preclude the possibility that it was set in any other building.

• But with LaRose saying that he doesn’t have a headquarters for his U.S. Senate campaign, the interview intensifies questions about whether he plans to seek office out of the same tax-funded space from which he’ll run the election, or from one a few floors away.

• LaRose hasn’t responded to repeated questions from the Capital Journal about the move.

• But it would be improper for him to engage in campaign activities in the downtown Columbus building, said Mia Lewis of Common Cause Ohio, because it’s vital to keep the work of running a fair election walled off from that of trying to win one. “You have to keep the campaign and the government work separate,” she said. “Once those things start to blur, it becomes harder and harder for voters to trust their elected officials.”

• The situation has already raised questions about appearances and propriety.

• LaRose is the state’s top elections administrator at the same time that he seeks one of the state’s top political prizes — a seat in the U.S. Senate. Last month, WCMH Channel 4 reported that LaRose was moving the secretary of state’s office into the same building he registered with the Federal Election Commission for his Senate Campaign.

• LaRose’s campaign lawyers are with the firm BakerHostetler and are located at the top of the building, which is along the scenic Scioto Mile at 200 Civic Center Drive. Meanwhile, the secretary of state’s office will be several floors below when the move is completed as soon as next month.

• Ethics experts said that co-locating the two could at least give the appearance of impropriety, and could at worst tempt LaRose and his staff to campaign for the Senate using taxpayer resources meant to ensure free and fair elections.

• That ignores the $600,000 the move is expected to cost. The rental savings won’t cover that until 2077.

• More significantly, LaRose and his team haven’t responded when asked repeatedly if he’s participated in interviews or other campaign activities in the building — a question that becomes even more pertinent if LaRose doesn’t have a campaign office.

• Then LaRose — who touts his commitment to election integrity — made yet another bid for the endorsement of Trump, who last December called to “terminate” the U.S. Constitution so he could steal a presidential election that he lost in 2020.

• If that bit of politicking wasn’t clear enough, Bannon’s show then displayed a full-screen image of LaRose’s campaign webpage, with its red “DONATE” button at the top left.

• Depending on where LaRose recorded the interview, that action might violate Section 3517.092 of the Ohio Revised Code, which says, “No public employee shall solicit a contribution from any person while the public employee is performing the public employee’s official duties or in those areas of a public building where official business is transacted or conducted.”

• Lewis, of Common Cause, said the fact that it’s even plausible that LaRose might have recorded his interview with Bannon from state-leased space is reason enough to house the state’s election administrator in a building separate from one in which LaRose’s campaign is registered.

• “Good fences make good neighbors,” she said. “You put up barriers to make sure nobody is tempted to take that shortcut. If your office as secretary of state is downtown and you have to drive somewhere else in order to do your campaign work, well there’s a reason for that. That’s to try to make sure you’re not cutting those corners. How easy it’s going to be and how tempting it’s going to be to cut those corners when the office is just upstairs or just downstairs.”

• Even before the office controversy, LaRose had been criticized as being highly political while simultaneously being responsible for neutrally administering Ohio elections.

• Among his controversies, LaRose was a member of a Republican-dominated redistricting commission that ignored seven orders from the Ohio Supreme Court to draw legislative and congressional districts that weren’t so gerrymandered; he led a misleading campaign to make it much harder for voters to initiate amendments to the state Constitution, and he led the Ohio Ballot Board in writing language describing a proposed abortion-rights amendment in loaded ways such as changing the word “fetus” to “unborn child.”

• “This man is our secretary of state,” Lewis said. “He’s supposed to be in charge of elections in Ohio. And yet he seems to spend an incredible amount of his time putting his thumb on the scale of one issue or another — openly campaigning for one result or another.”

• She added, “Now he’s running for office himself and the fact that he doesn’t see that it is unseemly at the very least to be operating as secretary of state while in the same building you’re running your campaign for Senate at the same time. How are Ohioans supposed to trust you when you have so much trouble putting the voters first?”

See also: Frank LaRose’s “Latest Political Controversy” Escalates, Ohioans Agree LaRose Misusing Taxpayer Funds; Frank LaRose Continues Dodging Questions From Ohioans, Media, and Lawmakers on Latest Scandal; Ohio Lawmakers Call On Frank LaRose To Answer for Latest Scandal Costing Ohioans; Frank LaRose’s “Latest Unethical Move Is a Bit More Literal”; ICYMI: “Ethics Red Flags” Go Up as Frank LaRose’s “Ability to Do that Job Impartially Has Been Called into Question” [Ohio Capital Journal]; LaRose’s Math Not Adding Up as Taxpayers Cover Steep Cost to Move Secretary of State Office to His Campaign HQ; As Scandal Grows, LaRose’s “Answers” Just Raise More Questions About Steep Cost to Move Secretary of State Office to His Campaign HQ; Frank LaRose Still Owes Ohioans Answers After Latest Scandal Surfaces;  A New Scandal For Frank LaRose: Taxpayers Foot Steep Bill to Move Secretary of State Office to Campaign HQ

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Ohioans deserve answers after bankrolling LaRose’s $600,000 move

Columbus, OH – Frank LaRose’s “latest political controversy” is escalating as LaRose continues to refuse to answer questions and provide transparency on his decision to move the Secretary of State’s office to the same building as his campaign HQ – costing Ohioans a steep $600,000 which will take 54 years to recover. Now, a new viewer poll by WSYX is showing that an overwhelming majority of Ohioans agree LaRose is misusing taxpayer money. 

Ohioans, media outlets, and state lawmakers have been calling on LaRose for weeks for transparency, but LaRose continues to put his political ambitions ahead of Ohioans.  

“Frank LaRose’s latest scandal is growing and Ohio taxpayers are footing the bill for his scheme to move the Secretary of State office to the same building as his campaign,” said ODP Spokesperson Reeves Oyster. “Ohioans aren’t buying LaRose’s excuses or his phony math as it becomes clearer every day that LaRose will do whatever it takes to advance his political career, regardless of how much it hurts – or costs – Ohioans.”

Read / watch more from WSYX: 

WATCH HERE:

WSYX: LaRose asked to justify spending $600,000 on relocating his office

Darrel Rowland

September 28, 2023

• The latest political controversy in Columbus revolves around office space.

• Secretary of State Frank LaRose wants to move his office from North Fourth Street to 200 Civic Center Drive a few blocks away. Democrats point out that that space houses the attorneys for his U.S. Senate campaign.

• Ohio Sen. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, is pounding on LaRose for changing the location of the secretary of state’s leased office for the first time in decades.

• DeMora led 13 Democrats who sent a letter to LaRose this week, seeking justification for the move, which will cost $600,000. While the office gets a slight decrease in the lease rate, that initial outlay won’t be recovered until 2077, DeMora said.

• “We want some answers,” DeMora said. “I mean this is state money he’s spending to move. It’s a purview of Democratic legislators to ask him why you’re spending this money.”

• DeMora, a top operative of the Ohio Democratic party for years before taking office last year, said he thinks it’s hardly a coincidence that LaRose picked the building that houses his senate campaign’s legal adviser, Baker-Hostetler.

• “It doesn’t pass the smell test for any rational person,” DeMora said. “The secretary of state’s office, through Democrat and Republican secretary of states, has been in the same building for 20 years. And now all of a sudden Secretary LaRose decides, well, it has to be moved.”

• Neither LaRose nor anyone from his campaign would go on camera to respond to the Democrats’ concerns.

See also: Frank LaRose Continues Dodging Questions From Ohioans, Media, and Lawmakers on Latest Scandal; Ohio Lawmakers Call On Frank LaRose To Answer for Latest Scandal Costing Ohioans; Frank LaRose’s “Latest Unethical Move Is a Bit More Literal”; ICYMI: “Ethics Red Flags” Go Up as Frank LaRose’s “Ability to Do that Job Impartially Has Been Called into Question” [Ohio Capital Journal]; LaRose’s Math Not Adding Up as Taxpayers Cover Steep Cost to Move Secretary of State Office to His Campaign HQ; As Scandal Grows, LaRose’s “Answers” Just Raise More Questions About Steep Cost to Move Secretary of State Office to His Campaign HQ; Frank LaRose Still Owes Ohioans Answers After Latest Scandal Surfaces;  A New Scandal For Frank LaRose: Taxpayers Foot Steep Bill to Move Secretary of State Office to Campaign HQ

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Dolan attacks Moreno for breaking his promise to not use his personal wealth to “write [himself] a big fat check”

Columbus, OH – Mega millionaires Bernie Moreno and Matt Dolan are attacking each other for trying to buy a Senate seat after they both wrote themselves a $3 million check last quarter. 

Moreno’s decision to dump millions of his own personal fortune into the slugfest comes after claiming months ago that he wasn’t going to “take [his] personal wealth and buy a Senate seat” and that it’s “not right” for wealthy people to “write a big fat check” for themselves. Now, Dolan’s campaign is attacking Moreno for breaking his promise to not self fund, saying “the former used car dealer’s credibility is eroding as quickly as his donor support.”

Moreno has also previously criticized Dolan for using his personal fortune to bankroll his campaign. Dolan, who is already in hot water after a report showed he is using a “cheap loan” and too-good-to-be-true deal to fund his campaign, has now self-funded $7 million this cycle. 

“The attacks are flying as mega millionaires Bernie Moreno and Matt Dolan both try to buy Ohio’s Senate seat. One thing is clear as this slugfest escalates, neither Dolan nor Moreno are fighting for Ohioans,” said ODP Spokesperson Reeves Oyster.

Whiplash alert: Months ago, Bernie Moreno claimed he wouldn’t “write [himself] a big fat check” and try to buy Ohio’s Senate seat:

• MORENO: “I won’t do what my opponent’s doing. I will not – well first of all, it’s my money vs. his family’s money, big difference by the way. But I’m not going to take personal wealth and buy a Senate seat. It’s not good for democracy.” [5/16/23]

• The Vindicator: “But when Moreno announced April 18 that he would run for the Senate seat held by Brown, he said: ‘I don’t think it’s right — I think it’s fundamentally bad for democracy — for wealthy people, they’ve got their checkbook, to buy a Senate seat. That’s not right. I won’t do that.’” [4/28/23]

• MORENO: “I don’t think it’s good for democracy for wealthy people to write a big fat check and buy themselves a Senate seat… I am not going to write a check that allows me to buy a Senate seat. It’s not good for democracy.” [4/19/23]

Read more:

The Messenger: Ohio Senate Candidate Matt Dolan Raises $4.1M in Third Quarter, Takes Aim At Rival

Matt Holt

October 4, 2023

• However, the Dolan campaign is taking aim at Moreno and highlighting his past comments that he wouldn’t self-fund his campaign. This quarter, Moreno loaned his campaign $3 million.

• On a podcast in April, Moreno said he was “not going to write a check that allows me to buy a Senate seat. It’s not good for democracy.” And in May, he took aim at Dolan for self-funding his campaign.

• “I won’t do what my opponent’s doing,” Moreno told a crowd at an event. “I will not – well, first of all, it’s my money vs. his family’s money, big difference by the way. But I’m not going to take personal wealth and buy a Senate seat. It’s not good for democracy.”

• “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,” Dolan strategist Chris Maloney told The Messenger.

• In September, The Messenger reported that Dolan played down the value of the Trump endorsement…

See also: Bernie Moreno Decides to Try to Buy Ohio’s Senate Seat After All, Writing $3 Million Check to His Campaign; Matt Dolan Breaks Pledge to Financially Support GOP Candidates Through PAC, Instead Uses It to Funnel Cash to Campaign Consultants; Questions Matt Dolan Must Answer About Shady “Cheap Loan” Bankrolling His Political Campaign; “Good to Be Rich:” Multimillionaire Matt Dolan Uses “Cheap Loan” To Fund Senate Campaign, Avoid Paying Taxes; Bernie Moreno, Matt Dolan Report “Multi-Million Dollar Fortunes”

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