9.15 Secretary of State Frank LaRose

The current Secretary of State is Frank LaRose (Republican). He has served as the 51st Secretary of State of Ohio since January 2019. He was a Republican member of the Ohio State Senate for two terms from January 2011 to January 2019. He was a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in the 2024 election, challenging incumbent Senator Sherrod Brown. He lost to Bernie Moreno in the primary.

LaRose graduated from Copley High School. He subsequently enlisted in the United States Army in 1998, serving in the 101st Airborne Division and later the U.S. Special Forces as a green beret. He received the Bronze Star for his service in Iraq. He has said that his military service influenced his desire to protect elections and voters’ rights.

He graduated from Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in consumer affairs and a minor in business administration.

LaRose ran for Ohio Senate in 2010 and defeated the Democratic nominee, Summit County Councilman Frank Comunale in the 27th District, a Democratic-leaning district, by 56.5% to 43.5%. LaRose won re-election to his seat in 2014 with 67.7% of the vote.

The text in the above bio is quoted directly from the following source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_LaRose