{"id":1994137,"date":"2023-08-08T11:11:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-08T15:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-hopeful-frank-larose-eyes-2024-with-crusade-to-protect-ohio-constitution\/"},"modified":"2023-08-08T11:14:42","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T15:14:42","slug":"senate-hopeful-frank-larose-eyes-2024-with-crusade-to-protect-ohio-constitution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-hopeful-frank-larose-eyes-2024-with-crusade-to-protect-ohio-constitution\/","title":{"rendered":"Frank LaRose, Senate hopeful, aims to safeguard Ohio Constitution in 2024."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsenate-hopeful-frank-larose-eyes-2024-with-crusade-to-protect-ohio-constitution%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1994137&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Ohio&#8217;s Top Elections Official Takes on Abortion \u200bAccess Ballot Measure<\/h2>\n<p>Even before Frank LaRose announced a Senate\u2062 run in \u2063Ohio, he had spent weeks\u200c crisscrossing the state for a different sort of campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Ohioans will vote\u2062 Tuesday on\u200b a \u2064ballot measure that has implications for \u200cabortion\u2064 access in the state, and\u2063 LaRose, Ohio\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-the-media-pushed-the-now-debunked-find-the-fraud-story-in-their-bid-to-attack-trump\/\" title=\"How The Media Pushed The Now Debunked \u2018Find The Fraud\u2019 Story In Their Bid To Attack Trump\">top elections official<\/a>, has been on a tear.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Leading up to election day, he attended dozens of Republican events \u2014 76 in total, \u200caccording to his staff \u2014 stumping in \u200dfavor of Issue 1, which would\u2062 make \u200cit harder to amend the state constitution.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The stakes are\u200b high\u200d \u2014 three months from now, voters will decide\u2064 whether to \u2062enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. But first, Republicans want\u2064 to place \u200can obstacle\u2064 in the Democrats\u2019 way.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The GOP-led legislature called\u200c a special election for\u2063 Issue 1, which would require 60% of voters to approve amendments to the constitution rather than a simple majority.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Millions of dollars have poured \u2063into Ohio, both for \u200cand against the ballot measure. Early voting figures blew through expectations.<\/p>\n<p>LaRose, who introduced Issue 1 with GOP legislators in the \u200dfall, has leaned into the\u2063 titanic struggle playing out in what would ordinarily be a sleepy summer race.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>According\u200c to LaRose\u2019s telling, he and the conservatives standing with him are on a mission to keep out-of-state\u200b forces from corrupting their founding document.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWe&#8217;re leaving it all on the field,\u201d LaRose, on his way to an event \u2064in northwest\u2063 Ohio, told the Washington Examiner in an\u2062 interview on Thursday.\u200b \u201cThe grassroots energy that I see is the silent majority deciding they&#8217;re not going to be silent anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course, that\u2019s not\u200d how Democrats see it. They view the special election as a hypocritical power grab \u2014 Republicans \u2062previously moved to eliminate\u200b August elections, citing low turnout, only to schedule one when a vote\u2063 on abortion appeared imminent.<\/p>\n<p>But LaRose \u200cis\u200d tapping into conservative angst that transcends the special election. In \u2062his sights: the race to challenge Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) next year.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The primary will be one\u200c of the most-watched of the 2024 cycle as\u2063 LaRose and two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/playstation-eyes-new-investment-for-pc-mobile-push\/\" title=\"PlayStation eyes new investment for PC, mobile push\">deep-pocketed rivals<\/a>, \u200bbusinessman Bernie Moreno \u200dand state Sen. Matt Dolan, compete for\u2064 the\u2062 Republican nomination.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>LaRose says he\u2019s making the stand as a matter of\u2063 principle, warning that Issue 1 has\u200b implications for parental rights, the Second Amendment, and \u2064a whole host of issues that could be brought \u200cup in ballot measures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don&#8217;t make my decisions based on what&#8217;s in my best\u200d interest. I make my decisions based\u2064 on what&#8217;s in the\u2063 best interest of Ohioans and \u2064what&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arizona-governor-doug-ducey-signs-election-integrity-bill-reforming-absentee-voting\/\" title=\"Arizona Governor Doug Ducey Signs Election Integrity Bill Reforming Absentee Voting\">good public policy<\/a>,\u201d he said. \u2064\u201cI\u200c think we&#8217;ve\u200d got too many politicians that\u200b stick their finger \u200din the wind and see which way it&#8217;s \u200bblowing, and then they do what they think \u2063is popular.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But LaRose has not hesitated\u2064 to make it a wedge issue in the 2024 primary. Last week, he challenged Moreno, a luxury\u200b car dealer, and Dolan, whose\u200b family owns the Cleveland Guardians, to donate $1 million\u200d each\u200d in support of Issue 1.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThey&#8217;re not \u2063working nearly as hard as I am \u2014 again, 70 Issue 1 events and \u2064tens of thousands of miles kind of\u2063 speaks for itself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cIt would be, I think, the right \u2063thing for them to do, to step up and put some of their money into this effort. Lauren \u200cand I are not millionaires. We&#8217;re maybe $100,000-aires. So we don&#8217;t have the personal wealth to\u200b do that,\u201d he added, referring to \u2064his\u2064 wife. \u201cBut I&#8217;m certainly putting in the sweat equity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The \u2063Dolan campaign dismissed the challenge as a \u201cgimmick,\u201d while a Moreno spokesman told Cleveland.com that he already \u201cquietly\u201d \u200ddonated $100,000 to the cause.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not the first time LaRose has stressed his election efforts in the 2024 race.\u200d In fact, it\u2019s central to his pitch \u2014 that he\u2019s the only \u201cbattle-tested conservative\u201d\u200c in the primary.<\/p>\n<p>LaRose cites his \u201cpro-life\u201d and \u201cpro-gun\u201d voting \u2064record in the state Senate \u200che\u200c served in for eight years.\u200d He puts just as much emphasis on his pursuit of election security as Ohio\u2019s secretary of state.<\/p>\n<p>Last \u200dyear, he stood\u2064 up a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kentucky-police-officer-fired-for-giving-black-lives-matter-protest-leader-info-on-cops\/\" title=\"Kentucky Police Officer Fired For Giving Black Lives Matter Protest Leader Info On Cops\">public integrity unit<\/a> to investigate election fraud\u2064 claims and touts his \u2063implementation\u2063 of regular post-election \u200daudits.<\/p>\n<p>The emphasis \u2063has drawn condemnation from Democrats, who say he\u2019s flirted with former \u200bPresident Donald\u2063 Trump\u2019s unfounded claims of widespread\u2064 fraud. His decision to campaign \u2062for Issue \u20641 while overseeing the special election, \u2062meanwhile, led the Libertarian Party to file an ethics complaint.<\/p>\n<p>But LaRose believes\u200b the focus is what conservatives want from their leaders. Moreover,\u2064 he \u2062believes it will be rewarded at \u200cthe ballot\u2064 box next year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;ve clearly demonstrated \u200bthat Ohio runs honest elections, that we know\u200d how to secure our elections,\u201d he said.\u200c \u201cThey \u200dknow I&#8217;m the guy \u2062that keeps their \u200celections honest, and\u200c they know that I share their conservative values, and that&#8217;s who they want in the U.S. Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Republican strategists see little downside to LaRose campaigning on Issue 1, at least in the primary.\u200b If the\u2062 ballot measure fails on Tuesday, as it is \u200dexpected to with\u200b such high\u2063 early \u200dvoting, the stump speeches were, if nothing else, an opportunity to shake \u2064hands and interact with the grassroots whose votes he\u2019ll need in \u2063March. If\u200c it \u2062passes, he can say he took on the \u201cspecial interests\u201d and \u200dwon.<\/p>\n<p>The November ballot \u200bmeasure on abortion will give him another opportunity to campaign, though Democrats have already spent recent days painting him as the &#8220;face of a losing effort.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>LaRose has\u200b dismissed speculation that Issue 1 could\u200d hurt his candidacy if it fails.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If it helps me politically, all the better,&#8221; he\u200d said. &#8220;If it hurts me politically, I can accept that as well. I believe we&#8217;ll win, but even if we don&#8217;t, I know \u200dthat\u2062 conservatives recognize that I&#8217;m out\u2062 there fighting for what they believe in.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>LaRose is already a known entity statewide, thanks to his two \u2062runs for secretary of state. It shows in polling, with a July survey by Ohio Northern University finding him ahead of \u200dDolan by 14 points. He\u200b leads Moreno by 25.<\/p>\n<p>That lead is \u200cexpected to narrow or vanish\u200b as the race picks up in earnest, likely sometime after the November special election. At that point, Moreno\u2062 and Dolan will begin to spend \u2062heavily\u2063 to introduce themselves\u200b to voters.<\/p>\n<p>Part of \u2064LaRose\u2019s\u200c strategy is to define them first. He often calls himself the only \u201clifelong Republican\u201d in the primary. \u201cI&#8217;m running against two former Democrats, and it&#8217;s up to them to \u2063answer for that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Ohio strategists generally expect that Dolan\u2019s centrist \u2064streak will hurt \u2064him in the primary, but they doubt the \u201cDemocrat\u201d label will stick, particularly in a state that has\u200d undergone a political realignment \u200din recent years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere&#8217;s a lot of people \u200bthat were former Democrats in the state \u200dthat \u2064became Republicans. I\u200d don&#8217;t think they\u2019d punish you for that,\u201d one Republican operative said.<\/p>\n<p>As\u200b for \u2062LaRose\u2019s issue \u2062advocacy, the operative said the stump speeches are useful as a \u200cmessaging tool but predicted the challenge for him will be fundraising.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u200b mean, they\u2019re positives, but there&#8217;s a lot of other things\u200b that are far more important in a race like\u200c this,\u201d the operative said.\u200c \u201cMoney \u2062being like\u200b No. 1, 2, and 3.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dolan only raised $300,000 in the second quarter but is expected to \u2062invest heavily in his bid \u2014 he&#8217;s already transferred \u2062$4 million of his own money. Moreno, meanwhile, raised $2.2 million in \u200dthe second quarter.<\/p>\n<p>LaRose,\u200d who entered\u200d in mid-July,\u2064 has yet to post\u200c fundraising\u200b numbers, but a political group backing his candidacy raised around $1 million\u2064 last quarter.<\/p>\n<p>The\u200b secretary\u200d of state dismissed \u2062the\u2064 idea that\u200c Dolan or Moreno have an edge over him because of their wealth. The winning formula, he suggested, would be aggressive fundraising and a\u200c lean operation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don&#8217;t think that self-funding candidates start from a position of strength,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that it matters to go\u200b out there \u2064and \u2063earn \u200dthe support \u2064of the \u200csmart, savvy business owners of the state who could smell BS a mile away, and that&#8217;s what I&#8217;ve done in the\u2062 past.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Also looming over the primary is Trump, whose endorsement could prove pivotal\u2064 in a state the former president \u200dwon by 8 points in\u200b 2020.<\/p>\n<p>LaRose \u2064is quick to point out Trump endorsed his second run\u200c for secretary of state last \u2062year, but it\u2019s widely \u2062believed he will back Moreno, whose son-in-law \u200dworked as a Trump aide.<\/p>\n<p>LaRose endorsed Trump\u2019s \u20622024 run in late July, hours before he and other Ohio officials met the former president at his home in Bedminster, New Jersey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Frank LaRose, Ohio&#8217;s top elections official, has been actively campaigning across the state ahead of Tuesday&#8217;s vote on a ballot measure with potential implications for abortion access. This comes even before his announcement to run for Senate in Ohio. Democrats express concerns over Alabama redistricting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1994138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1994137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1994137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1994137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1994137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1994138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1994137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1994137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1994137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}