Frank LaRose is now Ohio’s biggest loser at the outset of his Senate campaign after State Issue 1, which LaRose made himself the face of, was resoundingly defeated by Ohioans last week.
Here’s a sample of what Ohioans are reading today about Frank LaRose: “some political humiliations last forever,” “his bet didn’t pay off,” LaRose has a “cloud of Issue 1 above his head,” LaRose was more focused on his political aspirations than doing his job, “LaRose is left searching for a new campaign message.”
More on Frank LaRose being Ohio’s biggest loser at the outset of his Senate campaign:
Cleveland.com: Voters saw through Ohio Republican phonies, demolishing Issue 1 and perhaps some political careers: Brent Larkin
Brent Larkin
August 13, 2023
- For Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the father of Issue 1, the damage may prove irreparable. The man charged with administering Ohio elections, now a candidate for the U.S. Senate, wasted about $16 million of our money in an attempt to disembowel participatory democracy. Some political humiliations last forever.
The Columbus Dispatch: How Ohio Issue 1’s defeat could shake up Frank LaRose’s 2024 U.S. Senate campaign
- Secretary of State Frank LaRose put all of his chips on Issue 1.
- He traveled Ohio to advocate for the measure, even as some argued he should focus more on his day job running the election. He went toe-to-toe with opponents during forums and sat through jeers from audience members who didn’t like what they heard. In many ways, LaRose was the face of the pro-Issue 1 campaign.
- But his bet didn’t pay off.
- Now, LaRose is barreling into the 2024 U.S. Senate primary with the cloud of Issue 1 above his head. His critics have eagerly made him a scapegoat as Republicans search for answers about the Aug. 8 election outcome. One conservative radio host blasted Ohio Republicans for a “lack of a cogent strategy” and said Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno is the party’s best option to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown next year.
- LaRose’s GOP dissenters blame him for something else entirely: Tying the August ballot question to abortion. At a Lincoln Day dinner in May, LaRose told a room of Republicans that Issue 1 was “100%” about blocking the abortion issue in November. He went on to mention other issues, such as minimum wage, but opponents of Issue 1 clipped his abortion comments for campaign ads.
The Ironton Tribune: EDITORIAL: Voting difficulties could have been avoided
Editorial Board
August 14, 2023
- In the weeks leading up to voting, he campaigned heavily in favor of the proposed Issue One amendment, so much so that many in the media dubbed him its public face (It also just happened to conveniently occur when he is seeking his party’s nomination for U.S. Senate next year).
- Instead of barnstorming around the state in support of Issue One, the public would have been better served if LaRose had made his focus the logistics of the special election and conferring with counties to make sure they were in a position to carry out voting.
- Had the focus been on his job, rather than his political aspirations, maybe the difficulties of Tuesday could have been avoided.
ABC: Ohio referendum jolts marquee Senate race
Isabella Murray, Tal Axelrod
August 10, 2023
- Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose put Ohio’s Issue 1, a measure that could have ultimately hindered statewide attempts at protecting abortion access, at the center of his recently announced campaign for Senate.
- But now, after voters defeated the Republican-backed ballot measure, LaRose is left searching for a new campaign message.
- “I think the issue for LaRose is, what is the thing that would reinvigorate his campaign? Because Issue 1 was supposed to be the thing,” said David Niven, a political scientist at the University of Cincinnati. “I don’t want to call the crash cart in, but what’s the thing that’s gonna make this a healthy campaign? It’s hard to see what that would be right now.”
- Still, other strategists and critics pointed to what they said were missteps by LaRose that contributed to Tuesday’s results.
- However, at a local event in June, LaRose seemed to say the quiet part out loud, telling the crowd Issue 1 was “100% about keeping a radical pro-abortion amendment out of our constitution,” jolting Republicans’ messaging and shifting the debate toward an issue where Democrats have taken the offensive, even in other red states.
- “Anytime something you say is being used by the other campaign, anytime something you say is viewed as so productive that the other side’s putting it in their campaign ads, it’s really, really emblematic of failure,” Niven said.
Chronicle Telegram: No matter how you do the math, Issue 1 should have and did fail
Rini Jeffers
August 12, 2023
- They found $20 million in our taxes to fund the Republican-driven Issue 1, proposed in part by Secretary of State Frank LaRose. LaRose, whose entire job is to oversee our elections, seems to have taken the heat of this summer to heart by not just wading into partisan politics but diving right into the deep end of the pool.
- I work a lot more with words, with the meanings behind them. Like, for instance, when LaRose said the amendment was “100 percent” about blocking abortion, not about amending our governing document.
Slate: “The Ohio Republican most championing passage of the issue was Ohio Secretary of State (and Senate candidate) Frank LaRose, who anchored his political future to the vote… LaRose himself screwed up this strategy in June, however, when he said that “this is 100 percent about keeping a radical pro-abortion amendment out of our constitution.” LaRose’s Senate rivals are pouncing on him for screwing up the messaging; LaRose is saying that those rivals—Matt Dolan and Bernie Moreno, who are both quite wealthy—didn’t spend enough to try to pass the measure.”
