With just over a month until Ohio’s Republican primary, the Senate race continues to heat up as businessman Bernie Moreno, Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Sen. Matt Dolan compete to challenge vulnerable Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown. LaRose is currently under fire from PAC Buckeye Values, which released an ad claiming he is “too liberal” on social issues and “cannot be trusted.”
The ad was shared by Donald Trump Jr., who, along with former and potentially future President Donald Trump, has endorsed Moreno. In addition to praising Ohio for electing Republican Sen. J.D. Vance in 2022 and voting for Trump in 2016 and 2020, Don Jr. shared his support for Moreno, calling LaRose “leftist” and “pro-trans.”
The great state of Ohio helped put Trump in the White House and JD Vance in the Senate, so I have no doubt they will elect a true conservative @berniemoreno over leftist, pro-trans Frank LaRose. pic.twitter.com/wTJRYxEysL
—Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 12, 2024
“Can You Trust Frank LaRose” – The ad begins with questions and then highlights a group known as Equality Ohio. This includes the way LaRose was “he co-sponsored the Ohio Fairness Act for many years and advocated for LGBTQ+ equality…” and wants minors to be able to retire without notifying their parents. The ad also includes a 2014 account that highlights how LaRose supported public funding of abortion giant Planned Parenthood.
The ad also featured a 2020 video of LaRose himself congratulating Equality Ohio for 15 years of “fighting to make Ohio better and more equal.” It particularly focused on LaRose calling the group “my friends.”
“Frank LaRose, he’s not our friend, he just can’t be trusted,” the ad ends.
Equality Ohio also expressed positive comments about LaRose to X in connection with providing updates on the 2020 elections, as well as from the blog post in 2018, when they recognized him as a candidate for secretary of state who “has demonstrated support for the LGBTQ community in [his] career.”
Last night, while updating on Ohio’s November Equality Elections, Frank LaRose told us that people were saying that supporting the Ohio Fairness Act would end his career as a Republican. That didn’t happen. pic.twitter.com/Q0SaqDW5ZO
— Equality Ohio (@EqualityOhio) August 25, 2020
In response to the video, LaRose campaign spokesman Ben Kindel focused on Moreno’s call.
“The truth is that Bernie Moreno ran a foundation that gave nearly $2 million to Planned Parenthood. His foundation also donated thousands of dollars to a group supporting gender reassignment surgery for children, concealing it from his own parents – not to mention his sponsorship of the Gay Games Foundation. His D.C. consultants fear that Ohio voters will learn of his radical origins, so they resort to outright lies,” Kindel said of the Buckeye Values PAC ad. “Frank LaRose is 100% pro-life and has the support of Ohio Right to Life. Bernie Moreno never stood up for our values. Ohio voters know there is no greater champion for the unborn than Frank LaRose, and they will learn who desperate elitist politician Bernie Moreno really is.”
Ohio Right to Life issued their support Moreno and LaRose, as well as other candidates in other races, on Monday.
On Monday evening, Equality Ohio posted its own long thread with a statement from Public Policy Director Maria Bruno. “When it comes to LGBTQ+ equality, they have all betrayed our community for personal gain,” Bruno said at one point about all three candidates.
“Let’s be clear: All 3 Ohio GOP Senate candidates have previously expressed support: 2 who were former sponsors of the bill (LaRose, Dolan); and 1 whose company supported the Ohio Fairness Act after said candidate personally interviewed EO leadership (Moreno).
— Equality Ohio (@EqualityOhio) February 12, 2024
“While LGBTQ+ equality is not a partisan issue, extremists have done everything in their power to make it so. We continue to completely reject this assumption. https://t.co/rFlLkRjJ9J
— Equality Ohio (@EqualityOhio) February 12, 2024
“Equality is and should remain a goal of both parties. When many people claim that “we didn’t leave the party, the party left us”, this has never been more obvious than in the current campaign. https://t.co/Nx0Zc4Etcw
— Equality Ohio (@EqualityOhio) February 12, 2024
“What a shame that it is portrayed as a bad thing for a candidate to have anything on his record that supports civil rights. Experiences in supporting equality should be something to be proud of, not hidden and certainly not withdrawn.
— Equality Ohio (@EqualityOhio) February 12, 2024
“We need leaders who prioritize their constituents, not just when it is politically convenient.
— Maria Bruno, director of public policy, Equality Ohio
February 12, 2024— Equality Ohio (@EqualityOhio) February 12, 2024
This Ohio Senate race has been considered one of, if not the best the the most important Senate race in 2024 in terms of the reception opportunities it offers to Republicans. Forecasts consider the race a “Throw-up” with Montana, which has its own disordered Republican primary ahead of it. Arizona he’s different A “Toss-Up” race in which it is not yet known whether Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, currently an independent lawmaker, will seek re-election.
A recent Emerson College poll conducted behind schedule last month showed Moreno, LaRose and Dolan running against Brown. Moreno particularly benefited from Donald Trump’s endorsement last December, which boosted his polls.
