Republican Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who has teased a run for U.S. Senate, has a long history of praising and supporting a political group that supports gun control and amnesty for illegal immigrants, the Daily Caller has learned.
No Labels is a 501(c)(4) organization that is planning to run a third-party candidate in 2024 in the event of a close race between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. No Labels is currently co-chaired by Larry Hogan, the moderate former GOP governor of Maryland, and Joe Lieberman, a former Democratic senator from Connecticut who backed Republican John McCain’s 2008 presidential bid.
The group has said Trump should never be president again and has supported amnesty for Dreamers as well as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a gun-control bill that passed with support from 15 Republican senators.
Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin is set to headline No Labels’ “Common Sense” town hall at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire on Monday. (RELATED: REPORT: Democrats Terrified A Joe Manchin Third-Party Run Will Hand GOP Control Of Senate, White House)
“It is clear that most Americans are exceedingly frustrated by the growing divide in our political parties and toxic political rhetoric from our elected leaders,” Manchin said in a statement regarding the No Labels event. “Our political discourse is lacking engaged debates around common-sense solutions to solve the pressing issues facing our nation. I am looking forward to modeling this type of conversation with my good friend, [former Republican Utah] Gov. [John] Huntsman, and the No Labels community.”
In 2015, LaRose wrote an op-ed in which he recalled shouting “Thank God” when he discovered No Labels.
“While catching up on some work in the office one night a few years back, I read about a national group called No Labels. This interested me. When I read No Labels believes in ‘fixing, not fighting’ and ‘a new politics of problem solving,’ I actually shouted out, ‘Thank God!'” he wrote for the Daily Record. “When I found out No Labels was looking for state legislators to join their cause — and that they wouldn’t ask any of their members to check their beliefs at the doors — I was even more delighted to have discovered them.”
In the same piece, LaRose compared learning about No Labels to “finding a friend in a place where you’re feeling lost.” He also wrote that he would be hosting an event for No Labels and shared the group’s qualifications for an ideal presidential candidate.
“No Labels has big goals. It wants to elect a president in 2016 who is committed to solving problems. Members will ask presidential candidates to agree to the development and goals of the No Labels National Strategic Agenda, which seeks to: – Create 25 million new jobs over the next 10 years; – Balance the federal budget by 2030; – Secure Medicare and Social Security for another 75 years; and – Make America energy secure by 2024,” he continued.
In Oct. 2015, LaRose spoke on a No Labels panel at the same event as former moderate Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
In 2016, LaRose was a keynote speaker at a No Labels conference.
In 2019, LaRose posted on Facebook that he had been working with No Labels for years.
“We can’t let the tribalism of hyper-partisanship stop us from working together to make a positive difference. I’ve worked with [CEO] Nancy [Jacobson], [Co-Executive Director] Margaret [White] and the terrific No Labels team for years, and I’m proud of their commitment to making government work again,” LaRose posted. (RELATED: Republican Businessman Files Paperwork To Run For Senate Against Ohio Dem)
In 2022, No Labels Ohio promoted an event by The National Institute For Civil Discourse featuring LaRose.
“It’s no secret that Frank LaRose has always been an anti-Trump guy, having previously refused to endorse him in his runs for President, but what many people may not realize is that Frank isn’t just anti-Trump, he’s anti-conservative,” a GOP operative told the Caller. “Frank is doing everything possible to hide his long history of working with establishment moderates who hate and oppose the conservative movement because he knows the moment Ohioans learn that he is a genuine No Labels RINO, his Senate campaign will be dead in the water.”
On July 4, LaRose teased a 2024 run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Democrat Sherrod Brown.
LaRose did not immediately respond to a Caller inquiry about his past praise and support for No Labels.