#OHSEN Slugfest: T-Minus 179 Days Till Primary, Frank LaRose Still Working to Silence Ohioans
September 22, 2023
Columbus, OH – With T-minus 179 days left in this slugfest – each one more brutal and bruising than the last – it’s clear whoever emerges from this fight will be badly damaged in the eyes of Ohioans. Plus, Frank LaRose made headlines **again** this week after working to silence and overrule 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.
T-MINUS 179 DAYS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Ohio’s Senate Slugfest is “the messiest Senate primary” in the country with three candidates duking it out while neglecting the issues most important to Ohioans’ daily lives.
Here’s what you need to know with T-minus 179 days to go:
Bernie Moreno is one of two mega millionaires in this race and is worth over a hundred million dollars. Donald Trump has encouraged Moreno and Moreno is endorsed by J.D. Vance, who is close with Trump. Moreno has said he is “unequivocally pro-life,” supports a national abortion ban and does not support exceptions for rape, incest, or life of the mother.
Frank LaRose is now at the center of the November election to overturn Ohio’s restrictive abortion ban after making himself the biggest loser of the August special election. LaRose has already promised that even if Ohioans vote to protect abortion rights, he would overturn them by voting for a national abortion ban.
LaRose has faced scandal after scandal throughout his campaign, most recently for wasting over half a million dollars in taxpayer funds to move his official office to the same building as his campaign. LaRose has also been critical of Donald Trump, saying the former President’s endorsement “doesn’t carry the same weight it used to” and refused to endorse Trump in 2016, 2020, and even for the first week of his Senate campaign.
Matt Dolan is a mega millionaire who is using a “cheap loan” with a too-good-to-be-true interest rate to bankroll his Senate campaign. Dolan, who self-funded his last Senate campaign, has already loaned himself $4 million this cycle. Despite his enormous wealth, Dolan broke his pledge to use his PAC to support GOP candidates and is instead using it to funnel money to his campaign consultants. Dolan has also made critical comments of President Trump and his primary opponents, claiming whoever Trump endorses in the race will eventually lose.
And last but not least… All three GOP candidates oppose the November amendment to protect reproductive rights and support dangerous abortion bans, including bans with no exceptions for rape or incest.
It’s shaping up to be a contentious 179 days…
WHAT OHIOANS ARE READING ABOUT FRANK LAROSE
LaRose is making headlines **again** for trying to silence and overrule Ohioans by rewriting the November ballot language to be “intentionally misleading.” Don’t forget, LaRose has already said he would overturn the will of Ohioans if the November amendment passes by voting for a national abortion ban if elected to the Senate.
Cleveland.com: Editorial: LaRose’s “Loaded Language” An Attempt To “Have His Thumb On The Scale”
Ohio Capital Journal: LaRose pushes unfair, inaccurate language for voters on November Ohio reproductive rights amendment
The Vindicator: Don’t let LaRose silence Ohioans in the US Senate
Cincinnati Enquirer: “LaRose’s actions have made it abundantly clear he’s not working for us. He’s trying to get ahead and help himself and his political career − and he doesn’t care who stands in his way. LaRose will be remembered by his actions this August and November and who he fought for. One thing is clear: It’s not Ohioans.”
Ohio Capital Journal: “That summary language was written by the office of Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican ballot board member who has spoken out against November’s Issue 1 reproductive rights amendment proposal, and campaigned vigorously for August’s Issue 1 proposal to make amendments harder to pass, saying that the Aug. 8 effort was ‘100% about keeping a radical pro-abortion amendment out of our constitution.’ Issue 1 in August was rejected by voters 57% to 43%.”
Cincinnati Enquirer: “Clearly, Secretary of State Frank LaRose isn’t working for Ohioans. He tried to trick us into giving away our right to amend the state constitution with the sneaky August election. Even though Ohioans voted against him, defeating August’s Issue 1, he hasn’t stopped trying to silence us.”
WATCH HERE: FRANK LAROSE SUPPORTS NATIONAL ABORTION BAN
Frank LaRose: “But as I told you, I’m pro-life and if a pro-life measure comes before the Senate, then I would vote as a pro-life American.”
WATCH HERE: OHIO SUPREME COURT SLAPS DOWN LAROSE’S BALLOT LANGUAGE… AGAIN
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner on Frank LaRose rewriting the November ballot amendment language: Ballot Board & Frank LaRose “substitut[ed] their own language and creat[ed] out of whole cloth a veil of deceit and bias in their desire to impose their views on Ohio voters…”
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