REMINDER: Frank LaRose’s $600,000 Office Move Costing Ohio Taxpayers, “Blur[ring] Ethical Lines”
November 27, 2023
Columbus, OH – On day one in his new office, Ohioans are being reminded that Frank LaRose is wasting $600,000 in taxpayer funds to move his official office to the same building as his campaign HQ. Since initial reports on LaRose’s costly move published weeks ago, LaRose has been called out for “blur[ring] ethical lines,” raising “ethics red flags,” and “misusing taxpayer money.” Despite calls from media outlets, Ohio taxpayers, and lawmakers, LaRose has refused to answer questions about the costly move.
A refresher on *one* of LaRose’s many costly scandals:
- LaRose has been called out for months for moving his official Secretary of State office – which has been in the same building for nearly two decades – to the same building where his campaign is headquartered.
- The move will cost Ohioans $600,000 and will take taxpayers 54 years to recoup the costs associated.
- LaRose has refused to provide answers on the move and his unethical behavior despite calls from media outlets, public records requests from Ohio taxpayers, and questions from Ohio lawmakers.
- The Ohio Capital Journal showed that Frank LaRose “recorded a campaign interview that appeared to take place in the building where he is moving his taxpayer-funded state offices” potentially violating Ohio Ethics code by soliciting a campaign contribution from a taxpayer-funded building.
Here’s what Ohioans are saying about Frank LaRose “blur[ring] ethical lines:”
- Thomas Yeager, Air Force Veteran: “I was held to the highest ethical standards as a senior noncommissioned officer in the USAF. We should receive no less from our elected officials. LaRose needs to be held accountable for this string of unethical moves.”
- Delaney Marsco, senior legal counsel for ethics at the Campaign Legal Center: “That’s where my ethics red flags would go up… There’s a real concern about co-mingling the official business that he’s supposed to be doing on behalf of all people of Ohio and then the work that he’s doing as a candidate for Senate.”
- Mia Lewis of Common Cause Ohio: “You have to keep the campaign and the government work separate. Once those things start to blur, it becomes harder and harder for voters to trust their elected officials… [LaRose] seems to spend an incredible amount of his time putting his thumb on the scale of one issue or another…How are Ohioans supposed to trust you when you have so much trouble putting the voters first?”
- Armando Telles Marine Corps veteran: “I think Mr. LaRose is not being forthright about the intentions of the move, the timing of the move, let alone the exposures of the integrity of his office coincidentally being in the same building of his U.S. Senate (campaign) office.”
See also: NEW: Frank LaRose Caught Campaigning At Taxpayer Funded Office Amid Growing Scandal; Frank LaRose’s “Latest Political Controversy” Escalates, Ohioans Agree LaRose Misusing Taxpayer Funds; Frank LaRose Continues Dodging Questions From Ohioans, Media, and Lawmakers on Latest Scandal; Ohio Lawmakers Call On Frank LaRose To Answer for Latest Scandal Costing Ohioans; ICYMI: “Ethics Red Flags” Go Up as Frank LaRose’s “Ability to Do that Job Impartially Has Been Called into Question” [Ohio Capital Journal]; LaRose’s Math Not Adding Up as Taxpayers Cover Steep Cost to Move Secretary of State Office to His Campaign HQ; As Scandal Grows, LaRose’s “Answers” Just Raise More Questions About Steep Cost to Move Secretary of State Office to His Campaign HQ; A New Scandal For Frank LaRose: Taxpayers Foot Steep Bill to Move Secretary of State Office to Campaign HQ
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