Frank LaRose leads his 2 challengers in Ohio Secretary of State race

Republican Secretary State of State Frank LaRose was on track to win reelection Tuesday night.

Unofficial election results showed him up 60% to 39% over Democratic challenger Chelsea Clark. Independent candidate Terpsehore Maras had the remaining 1%.

"Ohioans have chosen freedom," LaRose said during his speech Tuesday. "Ohioans have chosen conservative values. And that, we know, will make our state stronger."

Ohio election results: Ohio Secretary of State race between Frank LaRose and Chelsea Clark

Republicans who watched the results come in from the Renaissance Hotel ballroom in Columbus were upbeat on Tuesday night, enjoying a near-immediate victory in the governor's race for Mike DeWine followed by chants of "OH-IO" led by retiring U.S. Sen. Portman.

"I'm not on the ballot, but you are, because this is the culmination of all your hard work," Portman said as he predicted a good night for GOP candidates across the country.

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Republican majority continues

If LaRose wins, it will assure a Republican majority on Ohio's Redistricting Commission, a seven-member group tasked with drawing districts for the state House, state Senate and Congress.

"We have a mandate for continued Republican leadership in Ohio for the next four years," Ohio GOP Chair Bob Paduchik reportedly told the crowd at the Renaissance.

The GOP members of that commission drew multiple maps over the past year, but Democrats denounced them and the state Supreme Court rejected them as unconstitutional. expected to come back later this year or early in 2023.

Will Frank LaRose run for U.S. Senate in 2024?

LaRose, a U.S. Army veteran and Green Beret, is rumored to be considering a run against Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in 2024.

Brown was the only Democrat to win statewide in 2018, securing a third term 53% to 47%. But experts think the gravely voiced populist could be more vulnerable in 2024.

LaRose hasn't said whether he plans to seek his party's nomination, but Democrats are convinced that's why he's made certain moves like creating a team to investigate illegal voting.

“Frank LaRose is using Ohioans’ hard-earned tax dollars for a political stunt so he can run for Senate in two years," Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes said in October. "LaRose himself only turned over exactly one alleged case of illegal voting to the authorities earlier this year. Now he’s creating a taxpayer-funded solution to a problem that doesn’t exist in order to further his own political ambitions."

Anna Staver is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Frank LaRose leading Ohio Secretary of State 2022 election