Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Wednesday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we interview Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who is mounting a bid for Senate, and report on concerns from GOP House leaders about a potential secret nuclear understanding with Iran. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Chris Christie, Adam Frisch and Tim Lenderking.
One word sums up Eric Adams’ time in Israel this week: hustle. And not just because the New York City mayor was photographed wearing a bracelet with the word during his visit on Tuesday to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Within hours of touching down at Ben Gurion Airport on Monday, Adams met with faith leaders in Jerusalem, followed by a sit-down with Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon.
Adams’ Tuesday schedule was no less packed: He met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, in addition to making his second trip to Yad Vashem. In a conversation facilitated by Cohen at the Foreign Ministry, Adams met with Yisrael Gantz, the head of the Binyamin Regional Council in the West Bank. Earlier in the day, Adams met with Reichman University professor Karine Nahon and tech investor Gigi Levy-Weiss, who have both been vocal against the Netanyahu government’s proposed judicial reforms.
Speaking to reporters last night, Adams said the topic of judicial reform came up in his conversations. “I listened, I didn’t weigh in,” he clarified. “I think the people of Israel will determine their destiny. I thought it was important for me to meet both sides here because I know that when I return to the city…some of my Jewish constituents will ask me questions and I want to be able to share what my conversations were.”
“I have many challenges in my city and I wouldn’t want someone to come in and interfere with how I work them out,” Adams added.
From the anti-judicial reform activists, Adams said, he “heard from them that the proposed changes will have a major impact on their democracy. And I heard from the prime minister [that] the proposed changes will have a major step forward, all toward democracy. And so it just clearly shows that there are two different stances here and the only way you could come to a conclusion is again to allow the people [of] that country to make the determination.”
Adams also addressed the need to combat antisemitism in New York amid a recent uptick in religiously motivated crimes. He told reporters he gave the authorization to the city’s police commissioner and hate crimes unit to “vigorously investigate and arrest those who carry out antisemitic acts,” adding that he believes “that all prosecutors should have a zero-tolerance, no plea bargain-rule for anyone that commits a hate crime in general, specifically, a crime of antisemitism.”
Earlier today, Adams, joined by New York City’s first deputy commissioner and assistant commissioner, toured Israel’s National Police Academy and held meetings focused on technology and the public sector. He’s meeting this afternoon with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, before attending a reception tonight with Israeli business leaders in Tel Aviv. After a brief meeting tonight with Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, Adams will lay a wreath at the site where Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. No word yet on whether Tel Aviv City Hall will be lit up with an apple to welcome Adams to the city.
Tonight in Milwaukee, eight Republicans will take the stage for the GOP’s first presidential debate of the 2024 cycle. Absent from tonight’s debate, which kicks off at 9 p.m. ET, is former President Donald Trump, the GOP front-runner. JI Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar is on the ground for the debate at the Fiserv Forum, and will be offering post-debate analysis in tomorrow’s newsletter.
buckeye ballot
In Ohio, Frank LaRose looks for his lane

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose entered the race for Senate last month with an enviable profile as a pragmatic conservative with a record of winning statewide races and boasting an early polling lead over his GOP primary rivals. LaRose’s military service also distinguishes him in a field that includes two wealthy businessmen vying to take on Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH). But as he has attempted to stake out some middle ground while facing opponents representing both the pro-Trump and Trump-critical sides of the GOP, he increasingly finds himself without a clear political identity, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Talking Trump: While LaRose has privately raised doubts that Trump’s endorsement still “matters” to most Republican voters, according to leaked audio obtained by Politico, he stressed to JI that he “would love to have” the former president’s backing, which could be decisive in a state Trump won by eight points in 2020. His hope for the nod “doesn’t mean we agree on everything,” LaRose said. “He’s got a style all his own. Some people like it, others find it not ideal,” LaRose said diplomatically of Trump, whose third presidential campaign he himself endorsed last month. “I tend to have a more Midwestern approach to things in the way that I interact with people — maybe a little bit less abrasive. But he’s also been very successful in life by being tough.”
Primary prowess: While he characterized himself as “the Goliath in polling,” LaRose suggested that he is “the David when it comes to personal wealth,” a reference to his primary rivals, who can self-fund their campaigns. The bigger challenge for LaRose is whether he can deftly straddle the position he occupies between his opponents’ differing approaches to Trump. Bernie Moreno, a Cleveland entrepreneur who has a warm relationship with the former president after refashioning himself as a MAGA hardliner who refuses to acknowledge that Trump lost the election and downplays the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. A third candidate, Matt Dolan, a Republican state senator whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians baseball team, has said he is uninterested in Trump’s endorsement.
Going global: “If we’re not engaging with the rest of the planet, we’re doing America a disservice — and we’ve seen this in the last century to tragic effect, specifically for the Jewish community,” LaRose said. “When you appease and ignore a threat, it gets worse — it doesn’t get better.” Embracing a global leadership role “is essential for America’s safety and also for stability around the world,” LaRose averred. “I’m one who believes that you make an analysis of, ‘Is this in the best interest of the people of the United States?’ And if it is, then you engage in a smart and aggressive way to advance that interest. That means in Ukraine, that means as it relates to making sure that the Iranians do not acquire nuclear weapons — and in supporting one of our best allies in the world, the State of Israel.”