Frank LaRose

Frank LaRose (born April 18, 1979) is an American politician who has served as the 51st secretary of state of Ohio since January 2019. A Republican, he was member of the Ohio State Senate for two terms, from January 2011 to January 2019. He was a candidate for the U.S. Senate in the 2024 election, challenging incumbent senator Sherrod Brown. He lost to Bernie Moreno in the primary.

In 2025, LaRose’s office referred more than 1,000 alleged voter-fraud cases to the U.S. Department of Justice. Reporting from statewide outlets noted that many cases involved registration mismatches or clerical discrepancies, and that only a small subset had previously resulted in county-level prosecutions.

In November 2025, LaRose endorsed legislation requiring documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote. Supporters described the measure as an election-integrity initiative, while several civil-rights groups and some county election officials expressed concerns that it could impose administrative burdens and risk disenfranchising eligible voters.

In 2023, LaRose supported putting Issue 1 to voters in an August special election — a measure that would have required a 60% super-majority (instead of a simple majority) to amend the state constitution.

The decision to hold the August election — even though the state legislature had recently moved to abolish most August special elections — drew criticism. Opponents argued the timing and proposed threshold change would make citizen-initiated constitutional amendments considerably more difficult.

During his tenure, LaRose backed proposals to change the rules for citizen-initiated constitutional amendments, including Issue 1 in 2023, which would have increased the share and geographic distribution of signatures required and shortened the period to gather additional signatures. News coverage noted that the steeper signature requirements applied only to citizen-initiated amendments, and critics argued the changes would make it harder for grassroots campaigns to place measures on the ballot, while supporters said they were needed to protect the state constitution from special interests.

LaRose was born at Akron City Hospital and grew up in Copley Township in Summit County, Ohio. His grandfather started the House of LaRose, a beverage bottling and distribution company in Akron, Ohio, where Frank worked growing up. He has four siblings and worked on the family farm during his childhood.

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.