How Trump's legal woes are playing in Ohio's GOP Senate primary

CLEVELAND — Ohio's brewing 2024 Senate contest is turning into a real-time illustration of the different ways ambitious Republicans are navigating Donald Trump's latest legal troubles.

And given how acrimonious and expensive (and Trumpy) the last Ohio GOP Senate primary was — now-Sen. JD Vance eventually scored Trump's endorsement in an early primary that foreshadowed how other Republican contests went — the dynamics are worth watching.

One candidate vying to take on Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, Republican businessman Bernie Moreno, was in the audience Tuesday night at Trump's golf club in Bedminster, N.J., where the former president addressed supporters following his arraignment in Miami on federal charges related to his handling of classified documents.

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Previously a Trump skeptic, Moreno is now among his most loyal defenders and had already planned to be in Bedminster for a previously scheduled Trump fundraiser. Trump has encouraged, but not officially endorsed, Moreno's bid.

Brown's is one of three Senate seats in states that Trump has previously won by healthy margins — Montana and West Virginia are the others — and Republicans are aggressively targeting those seats to regain control of the Senate, which Democrats currently control by a slim 51-49 majority.

The other declared Republican Senate candidate in Ohio, state Sen. Matt Dolan, is known for his eagerness to move the GOP beyond the cultural grievances and election denialism synonymous with Trumpism. Dolan ignored Tuesday's spectacle completely, instead issuing a tweet that flexed his role as chair of the Ohio Senate’s Finance Committee, which is finishing work on the state budget.

"Rolling up my sleeves in anticipation of another late night at the Statehouse," he tweeted.

Then there's Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who has been telling donors he plans to enter the GOP primary soon. LaRose's political roots — and many of his long-standing allies in the state party — tie back to former Gov. John Kasich, who carved out a stridently anti-Trump reputation after losing to him in the 2016 presidential primaries. Kasich even endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020. (Kasich is now an NBC contributor.)

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LaRose hasn't followed the same path. He has approached his potential Senate campaign as someone who can bridge both the pro-Trump and anti-Trump wings of the GOP. How he's carried himself as a candidate-in-waiting reflects the tension between the two. 

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For example: LaRose accepted a Trump endorsement last year while seeking re-election as secretary of state, but more recently he has downplayed Trump's influence over Republican voters. And while he has said he does not believe the 2020 election was stolen, he also has made overtures to GOP activists who made false or exaggerated claims about voter fraud.

LaRose has not gone out of his way to comment on Trump's latest legal woes. When asked for comment Wednesday by NBC News, LaRose spokesperson Rob Nichols offered a statement that gently rebuked Trump — though not by name — but also included a common GOP criticism of how the Department of Justice is handling the case.

"Secretary LaRose is a former special forces Green Beret and a current U.S. Army reservist with a top-secret clearance, so he takes national security issues very seriously," Nichols said. "He's disappointed that political leaders from both parties have been accused of mishandling classified information, and he's equally concerned for the people who risk their lives to gather that intelligence. The Secretary believes there’s a troubling double standard in how federal agencies pursue these matters, and he supports better policies and procedures to ensure classified information is kept secure." 

Like Dolan, LaRose has a busy day job that has prevented him from politicking as much as Moreno has in recent weeks.

As secretary of state, LaRose has championed an August special election for a ballot measure that would make it tougher to amend the Ohio Constitution. If approved, 60% of voters — as opposed to a simple majority — would be required to enact future amendments, including an abortion-rights initiative on the November ballot.