Potential U.S. Senate hopeful Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) said that former President Donald Trump’s endorsements are not as influential as they once were, though he does suspect he would win the 45th president’s support if he enters Ohio’s Senate race, per a report.
The comments — which he recently made privately before Cuyahoga Valley, Ohio, Republicans — surfaced in Meridith McGraw’s Politico article on Thursday morning. Although LaRose noted Trump’s backing bears influence, he suggested that the majority of the GOP populace, 60 percent, do not “care” which candidates he endorses when choosing who they vote for, according to Politico’s analysis of the audio.
He assessed that another 20 percent of GOP voters would automatically support Trump-backed candidates, while the remaining 20 percent would take his endorsement into consideration before voting.
The comments are significant, as LaRose is considered a top potential candidate for a U.S. Senate bid in the Buckeye State since Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is up for reelection in 2024. However, LaRose would first have to win a primary, which will include businessman Bernie Moreno and moderate candidate State Sen. Matt Dolan (R).
Per Politico, LaRose said that Trump would back whoever has the best chance of flipping the seat red.
Breitbart News reached out to LaRose’s office asking for a comment on Politico’s story and if he still believes Trump would back him if he entered the race now that these comments are public.
“Frank simply said what we already know. Endorsements are great, but you won’t unseat a 48-year incumbent politician with a list of endorsements,” spokesperson Rob Nichols said in response. “We need a candidate who can win, and we need to wage a contest of ideas and vision that not only unites the entire Republican Party but also a majority of Ohioans. If he runs, that’s what he’ll offer.”
Moreno is the father-in-law of Rep. Max Miller (R-OH), who previously worked as a Senior Advisor to Trump. In the audio obtained from Politico, LaRose said Miller had frequented Mar-a-Lago to ask for support on behalf of Moreno.
“Max has been making trips down to Mar-a-lago saying hey Mr. Trump, President Trump, can you endorse my father in law? Notice that [Trump] didn’t endorse him, but he said nice things about him,” LaRose said, adding:
Knowing how this goes, I can even picture it in my mind they’re sitting in the president’s office in Mar-a-Lago and he says, ‘You know, I’m not ready to endorse yet, you got a lot more time, you don’t have strong name ID, you haven’t any raised money yet, I’ll just say some nice things about your father in law on Twitter or Truth Social or whatever and then let’s talk about an endorsement six months from now.’
Speaking anonymously, a source close to Moreno told Breitbart News that the candidate had forged his own rapport with Trump and pushed back against LaRose’s depiction.
In a statement provided to Breitbart News, Moreno spokesman Conor McGuinness said, “President Donald Trump is the most powerful endorsement in all of GOP politics — full stop.”
Trump has proven his status as GOP primary kingmaker, and his candidates went a perfect 16-0 in Ohio’s primaries last year.
His influence was strikingly apparent in Ohio’s U.S. Senate race last year. GOP pollster Fabrizio, Lee, and Associates found that Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), then a candidate, was in a three-way tie with Josh Mandel and Mike Gibbons in the Republican primary in March 2022 at 18 percent apiece. Within a week and a half after Trump’s April 15 endorsement of Vance, Fabrizio’s poll found the candidate as the clear-cut frontrunner, with a double-digit lead over his closest competitor, Josh Mandel, at 31 percent to 19 percent, respectively.
“The power of President Trump’s endorsement is undeniable, his dominance over the Republican powerbrokers in D.C. cannot be overstated, and the promise of this MAGA Movement will not just define the Midterms, but it will win for years to come,” Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich told Breitbart News when Vance won on election night.
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