The Ohio GOP state central committee waded into the contested race for secretary of state Friday but stayed neutral in another party primary.
Through secret ballots, 52 committee members voted to endorse current Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague in his bid for secretary of state. They beat out 11 members who voted to endorse Marcell Strbich, a retired Air Force lieutenant and election activist.
“We’re shifting our focus,” Sprague told reporters Friday. “We’re not going to overlook the primary, but we want to make sure that we are well prepared for the November election and have those conversations about November.”
Strbich asked the committee to refrain from endorsing, he told reporters. “Because again, we have momentum in this race, we raised sufficient resources,” Strbich said.
When it came to treasurer, members declined to decide between current Sen. Kristina Roegner (R-Hudson) and former Rep. Jay Edwards (R-Nelsonville).
In other business, the committee voted unanimously to endorse current Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose in his race for auditor, and current Ohio Auditor Keith Faber in his race for attorney general. Both will go uncontested on the May ballot.
As for legislative races, it doled out dozens of endorsements, mostly of incumbent lawmakers in their reelection bids and of candidates in uncontested races.
But members did vote to endorse businessman Larry Kidd over Rep. Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill), who held the speakership from January 2024 until December 2025.
The committee declined to endorse in the Ohio House race between Rep. Ron Ferguson (R-Wintersville) and Frank Hoagland, the former state senator, as well as the one between Sen. Andrew Brenner (R-Delaware), who is at his Senate term limit, and Shawn Stevens, another former state lawmaker.
