Ohio’s most popular midterm Republican says his party needs to refocus its message into a constructive appeal to voters if the GOP hopes to regain the ground it lost on Election Day.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose won his race to become Ohio State Auditor on Tuesday night, securing over 2.3 million votes, a total that easily eclipsed any other statewide Republican candidate.
Gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy secured just over 2 million votes in his race, and Sen. Jon Husted secured just under 2.1 million votes in his bid for re-election.
“There are, of course, cycles to American politics, but also I think we as a party need to focus on what we’re for, not just what we’re against,” LaRose told Fox News Digital in an interview. “I mean, we know what we’re against. The other side has a bunch of crazy ideas that are dangerous for the future of our states and our nation, but we need to get back to talking about what we’re for. We’re the party that stands for human freedom, that idea that we’re endowed by our Creator with rights, those don’t come from government.”
“Protecting human freedom, protecting free market principles that people can prosper by, you know, the sweat of their own brow and working hard to build a business, those are really kind of the bread and butter conservative issues that drove me to become a Republican when I first started thinking about politics as a young man myself,” he continued.
LaRose went on to point to Ohio Issue 3, a ballot measure requiring Ohio voters to present voter ID when casting their ballots. The overwhelmingly Republican-backed measure sailed through Tuesday’s election with over 65% of the vote, even as Republican candidates struggled.
LaRose argued that the measure presents a warning to the midterm election’s victorious Democrats that Republican policies remain popular even if candidates fail in their messaging.
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“Candidly, I wish more conservatives had showed up to vote yesterday, and I think the outcome might have come out a little different. But even among most people that consider themselves Democrats in Ohio, it doesn’t compare to Democrats on the coast, right? The East Coast and the West Coast is more of that kind of, you know, woke DEI cuckoo wing of the party. But even in Ohio, most Democrats are pretty common sense people, and of course, showing your ID to vote is common sense,” LaRose said.
“Let this be a message to my friends from the other side of the aisle that won their elections in Ohio. Remember that Ohio is not a far left state when it comes to common sense kind of things,” he added. “Govern like a Midwestern Democrat and maybe you’ll be all right, but if you govern like a coastal Democrat, then I think your time in office is going to be short.”
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As Ohio’s secretary of state, LaRose had a front-row seat as election tallies started mounting. He said it became clear with around 60% of the vote tallied that Republicans were not going to have a good night.
Nevertheless, he thanked Ohio’s 40,000 election workers for their professionalism throughout the election process. LaRose has served as Ohio’s elections chief for eight years, and he says his move to state auditor will allow him to keep Ohio’s politicians accountable for their spending.
“When they waste your money, we’re going to make them infamous, and when they steal your money, we’re going to lock them up,” he said.