Secretary of State Frank LaRose was caught on tape pitching himself to Republicans as a potential U.S. Senate candidate.
On this week's episode of Snollygoster, Ohio's politics podcast from WOSU, hosts Mike Thompson and Steve Brown discuss LaRose's soft campaign and his viability as a challenger to Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown.
Soft pitch
In an audio recording obtained by Politico, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose can be heard fine-tuning his pitch to Republicans and strategizing about getting the all-important — or maybe not so important — endorsement of former President Donald Trump.
The story, by Politico reporter Meredith McGraw, was posted Thursday morning. It includes a five-minute exchange LaRose had with people at a Republican event in the Cleveland area in late April. In it, he clearly makes his pitch as to why he is the best candidate to take on Democrat Sherrod Brown.
LaRose points out the weaknesses of the two announced candidates, State Senator Matt Dolan and businessman Bernie Moreno. He does not disparage either candidate, saying he likes them both. But he argues that he is the best choice to beat Brown.
LaRose also said that while he would pursue a Trump endorsement, he did not think it was absolutely necessary. He cited the campaign of U.S. Senator Katie Britt of Alabama, who won her primary over a Trump-endorsed candidate and then went on to win the general election.
LaRose's comments in the audio recording make it clear that he is positioning himself as the candidate who is best positioned to win Trump's support. Now all he has to do is declare his candidacy.
Puff or pass
Today is the day the Ohio Legislature will act on a proposed law that would legalize recreational marijuana in Ohio. The law would regulate marijuana like beer, wine and bourbon, and tax sales at 10%.
However, it is unlikely that the Republican supermajority in the House and Senate will pass the law as is. They have shown no interest in legalizing marijuana, and they are more likely to amend the law or simply ignore it.
If the legislature does not act, supporters of legal marijuana will go back out on the street to collect signatures. They need to collect 125,000 registered voter signatures in order to put the issue on the November ballot.
Snollygoster of the week
Congressman Jim Renacci is calling for closed primaries in Ohio. Under the current system, voters can switch parties to vote in a Democratic or Republican primary. Renacci says that opens the door to what he calls "party raiding," where voters from outside the party choose candidates the "party faithful" may not want.
There is not a lot of evidence that a lot of voters from one party vote in the other party's primary to cause mischief. It happens, but not enough to make a difference.
What a closed primary would do would keep moderates and independents out of each party's primary. This could likely push candidates even farther to the right and left.
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