Ohio Senate “2024 Slugfest” Devolves into Chaos
July 17, 2023
“Fractious primary clash” … “Messy GOP primary” … “GOP Battle Royale”
The Ohio Senate “2024 slugfest” is devolving into chaos with Frank LaRose’s announcement today making this already bruising battle even messier, more crowded, and more expensive.
LaRose’s announcement is not being welcomed favorably by grassroots conservatives and he is already being slammed by his opponents. Hours after his announcement, one conservative radio host in Ohio said he is “not sure that [LaRose] has a chance.” Bernie Moreno’s campaign is also already attacking LaRose, saying he should “focus on the job he has,” with LaRose punching back.
Read more about how Ohio’s “2024 slugfest” is devolving into chaos:
NBC: Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose launches GOP Senate bid
Henry Gomez
July 17, 2023
- Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose launched a long-anticipated Senate bid Monday, becoming the third prominent Republican to run in an already fractious primary clash that will determine who takes on Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in 2024.
- His formal announcement comes during a summer in which he has championed a ballot initiative that would require a 60% vote — as opposed to a simple majority — to amend the Ohio Constitution. If that measure passes at an August special election, the higher threshold would be in place for an amendment to protect abortion rights that’s expected to be on the November ballot.
- Bernie Moreno — a businessman running with Trump’s encouragement, but for now without an official endorsement from him — is running as a loyalist of the former president.
- But LaRose also enters the 2024 race as the most meagerly funded of the three. Unlike Moreno and Dolan, he lacks vast personal wealth to draw from and has spent recent months urging donors to support a nonprofit group that his political allies started to keep him on competitive footing.
- One appearance that drew particular scrutiny was a spring gathering with Ohio Republicans where LaRose downplayed Trump’s influence in GOP primaries.
- More recently, LaRose put distance between himself and Trump after the former president was indicted over his alleged handling of classified documents. A spokesperson, Rob Nichols, offered a statement that gently rebuked Trump — though not by name — and included criticism of how the Department of Justice is handling the case.
- Moreno, on the other hand, attended Trump’s defiant speech at his New Jersey golf club the evening after his arraignment.
Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announces 2024 U.S. Senate run
Haley BeMiller
July 17, 2023
- LaRose announcement sets up messy GOP primary
- The GOP primary and general election against Brown are expected to be messy and expensive.
- National Republicans see Ohio as key to reclaiming control of the Senate in 2024. Ohio has trended red in recent statewide elections, and Brown is one of few Democrats up for reelection in a state that Trump won in 2020. Political analysts have labeled the race a tossup.
The Messenger: Ohio Republican Frank LaRose Launches Senate Bid, Setting Up Second Straight GOP Battle Royal
Matt Holt
July 17, 2023
- Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose on Monday launched his long-anticipated Senate campaign, setting up what is likely to be another bruising Republican primary in the Buckeye State.
- Former President Donald Trump has also made positive public statements about Moreno’s candidacy, a precursor to a potential endorsement. On Truth Social, Trump said Moreno “would not be easy to beat.”
- In 2022, over $50 million was spent in the GOP primary alone, as the candidates and their allied outside groups relentlessly attacked one another. Vance emerged victorious from a field of five candidates after he secured Trump’s endorsement. But the primary left Vance weakened and low on cash, which meant the Senate Leadership Fund — the leading super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — had to commit $40 million to boost Vance, precious resources that could have been used in tighter races. He ended up winning by around six percentage points.
CNN: Ohio secretary of state enters crowded GOP Senate primary to challenge Democrat Sherrod Brown
Gregory Krieg
July 17, 2023
- Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose formally announced his candidacy for US Senate on Monday, joining a crowded Republican field hoping to challenge Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.
- Ohio Republicans are now preparing for an expensive and potentially nasty primary, much like the contest in 2022 that ultimately sent J.D. Vance to the Senate, ahead of an even more costly general election campaign.
- LaRose is a leading proponent of a ballot measure that Ohioans will consider in August, which would make it more difficult to amend the state constitution.
- LaRose and Dolan, though, could face some headwinds among Republicans over their hesitance to embrace Trump… LaRose said at a closed-door event reported on by Politico in May that the influence of Trump’s support had diminished. He estimated that as much as 60% of the party “doesn’t care who he endorses.”
- Despite LaRose’s more recent actions, Moreno is more closely allied with the former president, who touted the Colombian immigrant’s entry into the race this spring.
WFMJ: Ohio Secretary of State LaRose announces challenge to incumbent Senator Sherrod Brown
Mike Gaunter
July 17, 2023
- A politician who finds himself figuring prominently in a TV commercial urging the defeat of Ohio Issue One has officially announced his candidacy to run as the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown.
Axios: Republican Frank LaRose joins crowded Ohio Senate primary
Andrew Solender
July 17, 2023
- Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is jumping into the well-populated Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Ohio.
- Why it matters: It complicates yet another Senate primary as competitive intra-party contests heat up across the country.