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Ohio Sec. of State LaRose has repeatedly abused the power of his office for extreme partisanship – Ohio Capital Journal

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Ohio Sec. of State LaRose has repeatedly abused the power of his office for extreme partisanship – Ohio Capital Journal


Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose must think we were all born yesterday. The overtly partisan elections chief removed all doubt with voters this year about his willingness to play dirty in tipping the scales on free and fair elections. Yet he ludicrously sent out a tweet last week to remind Ohioans “that election officials are THE trusted sources for election information.” 

LaRose was plugging an initiative of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) launched ahead of the 2024 election to have voters “always turn to state and local elections officials for reliable, timely information.” (#TrustedInfo2024.) “Get all your trusted information from my office,” LaRose tweeted blithely without any self-awareness of the distrust he has sown in his office with brazen partiality and prejudice.    

Yet there he is, in a group photo with his fellow secretaries of state on the association’s website purporting to be an elections chief people should rely on for the straight scoop “in the age of mis-, dis-, and mal-information campaigns.” LaRose is an imposter in that picture. He dropped any pretense of being an impartial elections chief people could trust in two statewide elections in 2023. He abused the power of his office to promote a one-sided agenda.   

But far from being contrite over the preferential treatment he gave anti-abortion extremists in ballot issues he campaigned for and soundly lost, the unapologetic LaRose is using his unethical conduct as a selling point in his U.S. Senate campaign. At a recent Republican Party candidate forum, according to a cleveland.com report, LaRose tried to ingratiate himself with a questioner by emphasizing his underhandedness in thwarting the abortion rights amendment. 

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Wrap your head around his reported admission of election sabotage to score political points. At the event, the top elections official in Ohio — whose primary duty is to impartially administrate above board state elections — confessed to collaborating with three prominent anti-abortion groups to alter the ballot language on the Nov. 7 referendum in order to defeat it. 

Imagine the Republican uproar if a Democratic secretary of state did the same thing with prominent abortion rights groups to skew ballot language in their favor. What LaRose revealed in colluding with anti-Issue 1 lobbyists to massage the text of a ballot initiative to benefit their campaign was public corruption beyond the pale. The Republican officeholder, entrusted with preserving election integrity in Ohio as a neutral arbiter, bragged about accommodating anti-Issue 1 groups with ballot wording “they wanted” and thought “would be helpful to them.” 

Maybe LaRose figured disclosure of his disgraceful scheme to fashion “helpful” ballot language for abortion opponents of Issue 1 would convince skeptics at the recent GOP affair of his good faith efforts to prevent passage of the abortion rights amendment. Maybe the Senate hopeful figured his blatantly biased and misleading summary of the abortion rights initiative, written in sync with the anti-Issue 1 campaign, would boost his anti-abortion bona fides with the audience.

But here on Earth 1, what the state elections chief pulled in his official capacity as chair of the Ohio Ballot Board (that determines what voters see on their ballots before casting them) was an outrageous breach of public trust. LaRose took a side in an election he was overseeing and corruptly manipulated the ballot language on behalf that side to win. That is about as reprehensible as it gets from a secretary of state elected not, as his spokesperson lamely proffered, “to represent the consversative values,” but to equitably serve all Ohio voters. 

LaRose doesn’t seem to care how many ethical lines he crosses to snare a U.S. Senate seat. Under the auspices of a Secretary of State newsletter (paid for by taxpayers) he promoted his candidacy to replace incumbent Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown. At a cost of more than $600,000 LaRose surreptitiously transferred his entire department into a building that coincidentally houses his Senate campaign offices — which he conceded using for campaign activities presumably when he’s not masquerading as a nonpartisan referee of state elections.

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At this writing, Ohio’s chief elections officer has still not complied with a federal law requiring candidates for U.S. House and Senate to file financial disclosure forms about their income and assets. LaRose is weeks past due on submitting the legally required financial information that might shed light on how a politician who portrays himself as an everyman of modest means could make a $250,000 loan to his campaign.

Yet the secretary of state appears increasingly emboldened to continue flouting the law, pandering to the political extreme and using his politically nonaligned office to side with an exceedingly unhinged and dangerous criminal defendant/ex-president who tried to overturn a democratic election by fraud and force. (Friday, LaRose signed on to a Colorado Supreme Court brief, with two other MAGA-pandering secretaries of state, taking umbrage with a lower court’s ruling that recognized the culpability of the Oval Office insurrectionist).

The same Ohio elections chief who once defended the integrity of the 2020 presidential election and called claims by Trump and Co. about rigged results harmful and unsupported by the evidence, has sold his soul to become a U.S. Senator. Yet ludicrously, LaRose asks us to trust him with the truth about the 2024 elections. We weren’t born yesterday.

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Judge rejects 2nd Amendment argument from illegal immigrant living in Ohio charged over possession of 170 guns

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Judge rejects 2nd Amendment argument from illegal immigrant living in Ohio charged over possession of 170 guns


A federal judge denied a request to dismiss a gun charge against an illegal immigrant in Ohio who had been in the U.S. for more than 15 years, rejecting the man’s argument that he has a right to bear arms.

Carlos Serrano-Restrepo was charged earlier this year and was subsequently indicted for possession of a firearm by an alien unlawfully in the U.S., according to WSYX.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives began investigating and watching Serrano-Restrepo after he purchased at least 22 firearms, and claimed to be a U.S. citizen on the firearms forms.

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Carlos Serrano-Restrepo was charged earlier this year and was subsequently indicted for possession of a firearm by an alien unlawfully in the U.S. (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives)

Agents conducted a search of his home and seized roughly 170 firearms, tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition and smoke/marine markers.

Serrano-Restrepo said some of the guns were purchased for self-defense.

Photos that agents took at his home revealed he kept firearms in gun safes. Some handguns were also mounted in holsters on the wall of a closet.

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Handguns in a closet in Ohio

Agents conducted a search of the suspect’s home and seized roughly 170 firearms, tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition and smoke/marine markers. (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives)

The suspect’s lawyer submitted a motion to dismiss the charge on the argument that he has the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment.

The judge denied his motion to dismiss the charge on Thursday, writing in his opinion that “disarming unlawful immigrants like Mr. Serrano-Restrepo who have not sworn allegiance to the United States comports with the Nation’s history and tradition of firearm regulations.”

“Mr. Serrano-Restrepo’s as-applied challenge lacks merit,” the judge continued. “The swearing of an oath of allegiance occurs through the naturalization process, not through his asylum application or his years of living in the United States.”

Guns seized in Ohio

A judge denied Carlos Serrano-Restrepo’s motion to dismiss a gun charge. (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives)

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His trial is scheduled for Jan. 21, 2025.

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Serrano-Restrepo moved from Arizona to Orient, Ohio, in 2022. He told the court he last unlawfully entered the U.S. in 2008. 

He also owns a business that remediates fire and flooding damage.



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Ohio State Buckeyes’ Biggest Weakness Revealed Before Michigan Game

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Ohio State Buckeyes’ Biggest Weakness Revealed Before Michigan Game


Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes were able to take care of business against the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday. Now, they are set to prepare for the massive rivalry matchup against the Michigan Wolverines to end the regular season.

Ohio State has been unable to beat Michigan for the last three years. In order to get a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game, they’ll need to snap that losing streak.

At this point in the year, the Buckeyes absolutely look like a national championship favorite. However, there is one weakness that is worth monitoring.

David Pollack, a former star college football linebacker and a current analyst, spoke out about the one weakness that he sees with Ohio State.

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“I don’t see a lot of gamewreckers,” Pollack said. “But I don’t see a lot of weaknesses, except at the cornerback spot. I’ve got to address the cornerback spot as a weakness. I’ve seen enough to know. There are enough penalties back there, enough flags, enough big plays that it’s not a strength.”

All season long, the Buckeyes’ cornerbacks have underperformed. Denzel Burke has looked nothing like the expected first-round pick talent that he was being hyped up to be. Davison Igbinosun has been heavily penalized and has struggled as well.

Going up against other elite national championship contenders will be a tough task with a struggling secondary.

Outside of the cornerback position, everything else seems to look solid. If they can fix the issues and get better production out of it, they would be a much more complete contender.

Thankfully, the talent is there for them to improve. Both Burke and Igbinosun are talented players who have simply struggled this season. They are more than capable of turning things around.

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All of that being said, the stage has been set for Ohio State and Michigan. On paper, the Buckeyes should be able to dominate the game, but rivalry games can get tricky. It will be interesting to see what ends up happening.



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Paul Finebaum names CFP National Champion favorite between Oregon, Ohio State

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Paul Finebaum names CFP National Champion favorite between Oregon, Ohio State


With just one week remaining in the regular season, there is only one team across all of college football that remains undefeated at this point: the Oregon Ducks.

So, it stands to reason that the undefeated Ducks should be the favorite to end the 2024 hoisting the College Football Playoff National Championship trophy, right?

Not according to SEC Network host and ESPN personality Paul Finebaum.

“I’m ‘Paul Out’ with block letters. I don’t even think Oregon is the best team in the Big Ten, let alone the favorite to win it all,” Finebaum said during Sunday morning’s ‘Paul-In, Paul-Out’ segment on ESPN’s SportsCenter. “And thanks Ducks fans waking up on the West coast, I’m aware that you beat Ohio State. But Ohio State, to me, looks like the best team in the country.

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“I think they’ll have a fun game in a couple of weeks in the Big Ten championship game, and both are going to go to the Playoffs and be in very good shape. But Oregon, to me, looks a tad below Ohio State.”

As Finebaum reminded the college football world, this exact matchup has already been decided on the field once this season, with the Ducks eking out a 32-31 win in Eugene in mid-October. While it’s not official yet, all expectations are Oregon (11-0, 8-0 B10) and Ohio State (10-1, 7-1) will meet again in the Big Ten Championship game in Indianapolis.

But in the meantime, Finebaum is sticking by the preseason favorite Buckeyes.

Ryan Day wanted to ‘leave no doubt’ vs. Indiana

Ryan Day wanted to leave no doubt during Ohio State’s 38-15 win over Indiana Saturday in Columbus and it certainly worked out by the time the game came to its conclusion.

After trailing 7-0, Ohio State ripped off 31 straight points to erase any opportunity of the Hoosiers pulling off the biggest win in school history. The Buckeyes and Hoosiers came in No. 2 and 5 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings.

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But with Day and Ohio State one step closer to the Big Ten Championship vs. Oregon, they can put this game to rest.

“Game got a flip there with the punt return (for a touchdown by Caleb Downs),” Day told FOX’s Jenny Taft postgame. “I thought, you know, we had a chance to really separate ourselves in the first half. We didn’t do that. I thought we played well in the second half. I thought we played physical all across the board, and our guys had a great look in their eye. And so now it’s onto the rivalry game.”

As far as scoring the final touchdown, despite a 31-15 lead with less than two minutes to go, Day and Ohio State wanted to leave their mark.

“Well, you say, leave no doubt,” Day said. “And you know, these guys want to finish the game the right way. TreVeyon (Henderson) did the right thing going down at the one-yard line. We ate up the clock. We didn’t want to put the defense back out there. You just never know in games like this, it’s a top five matchup. So we wanted to finish it the right way and make sure that everybody knows that this is the Ohio State Buckeyes.”

Nick Kosko contributed to this report.

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