New Reporting Raises Ethical, Legal Questions For Frank LaRose
April 7, 2023
Columbus, OH — New reporting by The Daily Beast is raising new ethical and legal questions for Frank LaRose, who has “repeatedly admitted that he’s actively raising money—including into a super PAC” for a potential U.S. Senate campaign but has failed to file with the FEC. According to the report, LaRose has “possibly trigger[ed] campaign finance regulations.”
Candidates are strictly prohibited from coordinating with super PACs and the FEC requires any individual to file candidacy when they raise or spend more than $5,000.
“This report exposes how Frank LaRose doesn’t believe the rules apply to him and raises serious ethical questions,” said ODP spokesperson Reeves Oyster. “Ohioans deserve complete transparency from LaRose, who now needs to prove he hasn’t broken campaign finance law.”
Read more from The Daily Beast’s Pay Dirt Newsletter:
- Ohio GOP Secretary of State Frank LaRose has been covertly entertaining a 2024 challenge to incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)—possibly triggering campaign finance regulations, according to his own statements.
- Over the last month, LaRose, a two-term Secretary of State who first took office in 2018, has not only teased a run, he’s repeatedly admitted that he’s actively raising money—including into a super PAC.
- In the same interview, LaRose added that he had recently been asking allies for “some commitments for financial support for this.”
- He also alluded to a run in a March 29 interview with WFMJ radio in Youngstown. “I’m thinking about it,” he said. “I’m actively building a team and looking at it. And, uh, again, hopefully, can make an announcement later this year.” Earlier this week he repeated the fundraising claim in an interview with WTAM, claiming, “I’ve been building a team and starting to raise a little bit of money to see if, you know, I’m going to be able to do it.”
- Federal election law forbids candidates from coordinating with super PACs for fundraising and expenditures. Those laws also require anyone running for federal office to register with the FEC and file financial reports when they either raise or spend more than $5,000.
- LaRose hasn’t declared his candidacy or registered a campaign committee. There’s also no immediately recognizable super PAC aligned with him, though a single-candidate super PAC called “Defend Ohio Values” recently registered with the FEC.
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