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1 day until Ohioans decide on LaRose’s amendment

Ohioans will decide on Frank LaRose’s amendment tomorrow and LaRose’s close ties to State Issue 1 continue to “obscure” his Senate campaign. 
 
LaRose has been a candidate in Ohio’s primary slugfest for less than a month and has already been dogged by ethics complaints, controversy, and criticism from his primary opponents for how he’s mishandled State Issue 1 – suffocating his Senate campaign launch in the process.
 
LaRose has not been able to outrun his admission that State Issue 1 is “100%” about abortion, which is “roil[ing]” his attempt to benefit special interests and silence the Ohioans he is supposed to be working for.

Here’s what Ohioans are reading about Frank LaRose less than 1 month into announcing his Senate campaign: 

NBC: “LaRose also is facing scrutiny — on the right and the left — for emphasizing the abortion angle ahead of Tuesday’s vote, as well as for what his critics call a divided focus between his political ambitions and the special election he is responsible for administering… Critics wonder if LaRose is distracted or spread too thin. He announced his Senate campaign three weeks ago, right as the Issue 1 homestretch began.” [8/6/23]

The Atlantic: “LaRose has been spending a lot of his time explaining the amendment to confused voters, including Republicans…The challenges LaRose has faced in selling voters on the proposal soon became apparent. When I asked a pair of women who had questioned LaRose during his speech whether he had persuaded them, one simply replied, ‘No.’” [8/4/23]

WBNS: “Now there’s more controversy surrounding the August special election… The Libertarian Party of Ohio has filed a complaint against Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose.” 8/3/23]

Anna Staver, Columbus Dispatch: “Yeah, you know, there are some folks saying that Frank LaRose has really made this his issue: He helped introduce it with Representative Brian Stewart, he’s championed it throughout the legislative process, and that if it fails, right, if we don’t raise the bar on protecting our constitution, that it will fall on him… He could take the blowback from that and that maybe could hurt his U.S. Senate campaign…” [8/3/23]

WOUB: “Next month’s controversial effort to make it harder to amend Ohio‘s constitution is coming into next year’s Republican U.S. Senate primary.” [8/1/23]
 
Ideastream: “Saying he’s breaking federal law, the Libertarian Party of Ohio has filed a complaint with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel against Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose. At issue is the Hatch Act, which regulates political activities of public officials.”  [8/1/23]
 
The Columbus Dispatch: “For someone who is using Issue 1 to campaign for federal office, LaRose should probably be more familiar with federal laws while administering federal funds,” said Travis Irvine… “Libertarians have known all too well since 2013 that ‘Two Faced Frank’ will do whatever it takes to get ahead.” [8/1/23]
 
Ohio Capital Journal: “The Libertarian Party of Ohio has filed a complaint with federal officials alleging Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s Issue 1 advocacy violates the Hatch Act.” [8/1/23]
 
Cleveland.com: “He (LaRose) put his whole stock and trade in [Issue One], which is odd for a Secretary of State who’s supposed to protect the voters. He’s doing the opposite. He’s led the charge, he’s done it sleazy the whole way. And if this goes down, his opponents in the senate race are going to say he’s a loser. Bernie’s already saying, ‘Hey, you, you went the wrong way.’ You should be talking about protecting the Constitution, not abortion.” [8/1/23]
 
The Messenger: “Frank LaRose has made himself the face of the controversial ballot issue that Ohio voters will vote on next week… If Issue 1 is defeated soundly, it would be a blow to LaRose’s political capital, considering how much he has campaigned in support of the issue.” [7/31/23]
 
Cleveland.com: “Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose – a key figure behind the looming State Issue 1 election to make it harder for citizens to propose and pass constitutional amendments – wants his political rivals to chip in for the cause.” [7/31/23]
 
The State of Ohio: Frank LaRose tied to State Issue 1; “I think that will really strongly be used against him in campaigns.” [7/31/23]
 
Heartland Signal: Frank LaRose “repeatedly jeered” by Ohio crowd while debating in favor of State Issue 1. [7/26/23]
 

The Vindicator: “Finally, LaRose is one of the primary backers of state Issue 1, which would make it much harder for constitutional amendments to pass if voters approve it Aug. 8. LaRose is so connected to the issue that his Senate cause could be impacted if it is defeated.”  [7/21/23]
 
Cleveland.com: “And while it’s too simple to say that [LaRose’s] political fortunes will rise or fall with State Issue 1, his close ties to the measure will offer plenty of chances for him to catch attacks from across the political spectrum.” [7/20/23]
 
Cleveland.com: “Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s Senate primary race will be preceded by his tough race to get Issue 1 passed in a special August election.” [7/19/23]
 
Ohio Capital Journal: “Over the next four months, LaRose will have to balance Senate fundraising and campaigning with running two elections… LaRose is one of the proposal’s chief advocates and after initially speaking against August elections when lawmakers eliminated them last year, LaRose supported bringing back this August election to consider Issue 1.” [7/18/23]
 
Statehouse News Bureau: “LaRose enters race for the U.S. Senate while being at the forefront of a controversial ballot issue” [7/17/23]
 
WEWS: “Concerns raised over Sec. of State LaRose’s ethics before August election”

2 days until Ohioans decide on LaRose’s amendment

Ohioans will decide on Frank LaRose’s amendment in two days and LaRose’s “central role” in State Issue 1 is front and center, escalating infighting in the Ohio Senate slugfest and suffocating his Senate campaign – which launched “right as the Issue 1 homestretch began.” 
 
LaRose’s admission that State Issue 1 is “100%” about abortion continues to haunt him as he “face[s] scrutiny – on the right and the left – for emphasizing the abortion angle.” LaRose is also taking heat for missteps made while closely tying himself to State Issue 1 and has been criticized for his “divided focus between his political ambitions and the special election he is responsible for administering.”
 
“No matter the outcome, Frank LaRose made himself the biggest loser and is now the face of an effort designed to help special interests and silence Ohioans,” said Reeves Oyster, Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson.
 
Read more:
 
NBC: High-stakes Ohio ballot measure sets the stage for another hostile Senate race
Henry Gomez
August 6, 2023

• The first battle of Ohio’s Senate race — already awash in hostilities among the three Republicans angling to unseat Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in 2024 — arrives Tuesday with a special election on a hot-button ballot measure.
• LaRose’s central role in the ballot measure campaign has emerged as a tension point in the Senate primary. Losing would do little to ease those feelings.
• LaRose also is facing scrutiny — on the right and the left — for emphasizing the abortion angle ahead of Tuesday’s vote, as well as for what his critics call a divided focus between his political ambitions and the special election he is responsible for administering.
• “If the issue fails, LaRose will have spent the vital early days of his campaign as the face of a losing effort and he will be open to criticism from the already skeptical conservative base.”  
• He rang alarm bells last week, though, when his Senate campaign called on businessman Bernie Moreno and state Sen. Matt Dolan — the other Republicans seeking the seat — to each contribute $1 million to the effort in support of Issue 1.
• “It’s really sad that days before the monumental Issue 1 vote, Frank is spending his time humiliating himself and attacking fellow Republicans to the mainstream media,” Moreno spokesperson Conor McGuinness said. “While too many career politicians only seem to care about getting credit to advance their political careers, the only thing Bernie cares about is doing everything in his power to ensure Issue 1 passes.”
• LaRose also is under scrutiny for how he’s talked about Issue 1 and how his office has administered the special election. Just last year, he characterized August elections as a shady way to pass ballot measures while voters are on summer vacation and paying little attention. (Statewide issues, he has since argued, are different because they generate widespread media coverage.) And Moreno has grumbled about LaRose’s comments at a spring GOP function, at which he described the Issue 1 vote in part as being “100% about keeping a radical pro-abortion amendment” out of the Ohio Constitution.
• “He said it’s 100% about abortion, which has screwed up the messaging, because it’s 100% about protecting the Constitution,” Moreno said last month on the Common Sense Ohio podcast. 
• More recent problems include a scramble to secure enough poll workers before Tuesday’s vote and an email to voters from LaRose’s office last week that gave the wrong date for the special election. Critics wonder if LaRose is distracted or spread too thin. He announced his Senate campaign three weeks ago, right as the Issue 1 homestretch began.

3 days until Ohioans decide on LaRose’s amendment

A conservative radio host called on LaRose to resign last night after breaking his promise to Ohioans and not “paying attention to what the hell is going on with his job.” 

Brad Koffel: “[Frank LaRose] has enough hubris and narcissism to tell Ohioans: ‘Hey, thanks for electing me Secretary of State and reelecting me, and I promise to pay attention to what’s going on on Issue 1, I promise to pay attention to fight these lawsuits that are coming… I’m here to protect you. Oh but now I’m not, now I want to go run for U.S. Senate.’ We’re like: ‘Frank, well then resign.’ If you want to run for U.S. Senate, that’s fine, but we need someone full time Secretary of State.”

LaRose has closely tied himself to State Issue 1 and has been criticized by primary opponent Bernie Moreno and his allies for his missteps — including admitting the quiet part out loud that State Issue 1 is “100%” about abortion and for “tak[ing] his eye off the ball.”

LaRose’s Senate campaign continues to be caught in the crosshairs of his close ties to State Issue 1, causing “blowback” and actively “obscuring” his Senate launch.

Listen to more from 610 WTVN:

BRAD KOFFEL [00:40]: “[Frank LaRose] needs to be paying attention to what the hell is going on with his job, not run around county fairs running for United States Senate. The Republican side is going to be bloodied and battered…”

KOFFEL [00:56]: “We don’t need Frank LaRose running for Senate…”

KOFFEL [01:13]: “We need someone who understands the people and if Frank LaRose understood the people he would listen to the people that know him and [are] reaching out and [are] saying ‘Frank, don’t do this, it’s not about you.’”

KOFFEL [02:03]:“[LaRose] has enough hubris and narcissism to tell Ohioans: ‘Hey, thanks for electing me Secretary of State and reelecting me, and I promise to pay attention to what’s going on on Issue 1, I promise to pay attention to fight these lawsuits that are coming… I’m here to protect you. Oh but now I’m not, now I want to go run for U.S. Senate.’ We’re like: ‘Frank, well then resign.’ If you want to run for U.S. Senate that’s fine but we need someone full time Secretary of State.”

4 days until Ohioans decide on LaRose’s amendment

Ohioans will decide on Frank LaRose’s amendment in four days and LaRose’s Senate campaign is still being suffocated by his close ties to State Issue 1. 
 
This week, LaRose’s admission that State Issue 1 is “100%” about abortion remained front and center while he ran for cover, escalating infighting in Ohio’s Republican primary slugfest. If that wasn’t bad enough, LaRose was also slammed with an ethics complaint by the Libertarian Party of Ohio for making himself the face of State Issue 1 and was blasted for sending an email to poll workers with the incorrect election date. 
 
LaRose’s Senate campaign continues to be caught in the crosshairs of his close ties to State Issue 1, causing “blowback” and actively “obscuring” his Senate launch.
 
Here’s what Ohioans are reading and watching about Frank LaRose days before they vote on his amendment:
 
LaRose can’t escape admitting the quiet part out loud that State Issue 1 is “100%” about abortion. 
 

After making himself “the face of” State Issue 1, LaRose ran for cover and tried to pull his primary opponents closer to State Issue 1, igniting infighting among the field.

WOUB: “Next month’s controversial effort to make it harder to amend Ohio‘s constitution is coming into next year’s Republican U.S. Senate primary.”

Cleveland.com: “Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose – a key figure behind the looming State Issue 1 election to make it harder for citizens to propose and pass constitutional amendments – wants his political rivals to chip in for the cause.”
 

“More controversy:” LaRose slammed with ethics complaint by the Libertarian Party of Ohio.
 

WBNS: “Now there’s more controversy surrounding the August special election… The Libertarian Party of Ohio has filed a complaint against Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose.”
 

Ideastream: “Saying he’s breaking federal law, the Libertarian Party of Ohio has filed a complaint with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel against Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose. At issue is the Hatch Act, which regulates political activities of public officials.”
 

The Columbus Dispatch: “For someone who is using Issue 1 to campaign for federal office, LaRose should probably be more familiar with federal laws while administering federal funds,” said Travis Irvine… “Libertarians have known all too well since 2013 that ‘Two Faced Frank’ will do whatever it takes to get ahead.”
 

LaWhoops strikes again: LaRose blasted after sending an email to poll workers with the incorrect election date.

Senate campaign in the crosshairs: LaRose’s close ties to State Issue 1 are suffocating his Senate campaign, causing “blowback” and actively “obscuring” his launch. 
 

Anna Staver, Columbus Dispatch: “Yeah, you know, there are some folks saying that Frank LaRose has really made this his issue… If it fails, right, if we don’t raise the bar on protecting our constitution, that it will fall on him… He could take the blowback from that and that maybe could hurt his U.S. Senate campaign…”
 

Cleveland.com: “Previews of the Barbenheimer sequel, ‘Barbenheimer- Issue 1′ contain a climax scene showing a giant mushroom cloud of hot pink hues obscuring ‘Frank LaRose for Senate’ and ‘Super Majority needed for State Constitution Amendments’ signs. Along with Barbie giving a ‘thumbs up’ to a ‘No’ vote on Issue 1, and Ken voting ‘Yes.’”
 
Cleveland.com: “He (LaRose) put his whole stock and trade in [Issue One], which is odd for a Secretary of State who’s supposed to protect the voters. He’s doing the opposite. He’s led the charge, he’s done it sleazy the whole way. And if this goes down, his opponents in the senate race are going to say he’s a loser. Bernie’s already saying, ‘Hey, you, you went the wrong way.’ You should be talking about protecting the Constitution, not abortion.”

5 days until Ohioans decide on LaRose’s amendment

Ohioans will decide on Frank LaRose’s amendment in five days and LaRose’s close ties to State Issue 1 continue to cause “blowback” – with pundits noting that if State Issue 1 fails it could “fall on” LaRose and “hurt” his Senate campaign. 
 
While LaRose continues to be dogged by ethics complaints and controversies for making himself the face of State Issue 1, his incompetence is on full display. 
 
LaRose’s office sent out an email to poll workers this week with the incorrect date for the August 8th election. Following his latest LaWhoops, LaRose reported that over half of Ohio’s counties are short on poll workers – with over a quarter of counties short of the minimum required to conduct the election. 
 
“The writing is on the wall: LaRose’s missteps have hurt himself and State Issue 1 while suffocating his Senate campaign launch,” said ODP spokesperson Reeves Oyster. “If State Issue 1 fails, LaRose will be crowned Ohio’s biggest loser.”
 

Watch More:
 
Spectrum News: Frank LaRose faces “blowback” for close ties to State Issue 1, “could hurt his U.S. Senate campaign.”
 

Anna Staver, Columbus Dispatch: “Yeah, you know, there are some folks saying that Frank LaRose has really made this his issue: He helped introduce it with Representative Brian Stewart, he’s championed it throughout the legislative process, and that if it fails, right, if we don’t raise the bar on protecting our constitution, that it will fall on him… He could take the blowback from that and that maybe could hurt his U.S. Senate campaign…”
 
WBNS: Frank LaRose faces more controversy caused by close ties to State Issue 1
 

Tracy Townsend: “Now there’s more controversy surrounding the August special election… The Libertarian Party of Ohio has filed a complaint against Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose.”
 
Amy Steigerwald: “The Secretary of State’s office is also facing some questions regarding how they are specifically handling that election, especially when it comes to Issue 1. His office is in charge of running our special elections, Frank LaRose’s office, including the one that is happening next week. But we know Frank LaRose himself has been an outspoken supporter of Issue 1… This morning we have reached out to Frank LaRose’s office for response to that complaint, we are waiting to hear back…”