The following articlewas originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal and published on News5Cleveland.com under a content-sharing agreement.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has filed the financial disclosure for his U.S. Senate bid. He’s about a month late. Candidates for federal office, like elected officials, have to disclose the broad strokes of their financial holdings and liabilities. LaRose’s initial deadline was in August, but he filed for a 90-day extension, that pushed the deadline off to Nov. 14.
LaRose actually submitted his paperwork Dec. 10.
What we learned
LaRose reports earning close to $200,000 as Secretary of State between 2022, and his income this year up to filing. An additional $8,500 from the Defense Finance Accounting Service puts him over the top.
Unlike his Republican opponents, state Sen. Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls, and entrepreneur Bernie Moreno, LaRose isn’t a multi-millionaire. But between savings, investments and the family’s Upper Arlington home, the LaRoses have significant assets.
Also, unlike his rivals, LaRose’s disclosure is straightforward. His money is not tied up in real estate or business interests, and he has no reportable liabilities (under Senate rules, filers don’t have to report the mortgage on their personal residence).
Instead, LaRose has 529 accounts for his kids, a couple annuities and about two dozen mutual funds. In all, those mutual funds are worth at least $298,000, but potentially as much as $871,000.
Savings and expenses
LaRose reports a savings account with between $500,000 and $1 million in deposits. That’s notable given the $250,000 loan LaRose made to his campaign earlier this year.
LaRose’s annual salary is just shy of $125,000 now, but he’s only been earning that much since 2019. Before that, in the state Senate, he earned about half as much — $67,000. His wife Lauren previously worked for the payroll processor ADP, but since the beginning of 2022, they’ve been a predominately single income family.
With three kids and an Upper Arlington home purchased in 2020, the family’s expenses aren’t insignificant. According to the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator, for instance, a family of five in the Columbus metro area could expect close to $94,000 a year in expenses.
LaRose doesn’t disclose any gift or inheritance, but his family owns the Akron-area beer and wine distributor House of LaRose. His great grandfather Thomas P. LaRose started the company in the 1920s. LaRose’s grandfather Thomas A. LaRose took over the company in the 1960s, and grew it into the largest wholesaler in Ohio at the time. He passed away last year.
House of LaRose executives, including LaRose’s father and uncles, helped fund his first run for office, and beverage wholesalers gave generously to the soft money group backing LaRose’s U.S. Senate candidacy.
LaRose’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment to better explain his finances.
Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Reeves Oyster criticized LaRose’s late filing.
“Frank LaRose has made clear he doesn’t think the rules apply to him and this report raises even more questions about how he could cut himself a six-figure check after claiming he couldn’t afford to self-fund his campaign.”
