ABC News projects Frank LaRose winner of GOP secretary of state race
In the Ohio Republican primary for secretary of state, incumbent elections chief Frank LaRose is projected to win.
Although LaRose once told the Cleveland Plain Dealer it is "irresponsible when Republicans say an election was stolen and don't have evidence" in the fallout from the 2020 election, the Republican incumbent still received Trump's endorsement for his reelection campaign.
"I think President Trump is incredibly influential here in Ohio. He won by an overwhelming margin, in a secure election -- he got over 8%, that's a record-setting 3 million votes in the state of Ohio," LaRose said in an interview on ABC News Live on Monday touting the endorsement.
As Trump increasingly wades into state-level political contests, the shift in rhetoric by LaRose demonstrates an attempt to bridge the divide between sentiments of election denial expressed by many of Trump's supporters with the wishes of broad swaths of Republicans who want to see the party move on from focusing on 2020.
-ABC News' Alisa Wiersema