Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is seeking the top role in cybersecurity and elections in the incoming Trump administration, according to four people who spoke to those close to LaRose.
LaRose, a Republican, told colleagues in the past week that he is interested in becoming director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said the people, all of whom were granted anonymity to share details of private conversations.
LaRose did not respond to a request for comment. Asked whether the Trump-Vance transition team has had any communication with LaRose, spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said these decisions “will be announced as they are made.”
Although it’s still early days, the former Ohio senator appears to be a strong candidate for the role. He is popular among Republicans, stands out as the most high-profile name interested in the job yet, and could have the exact credentials the GOP is looking for as it charts a transition on top of the federal government’s primary civilian cyber defense agency.
President-elect Donald Trump created CISA in 2018 during his first term to help protect federal networks and key U.S. infrastructure from hackers and physical sabotage. But the $3 billion agency came under fire from Republicans after the 2020 election, amid accusations that its work fighting online election fraud amounted to censorship of conservative voices online.
The Supreme Court rejected these claims earlier this year. But Republican policy organizations previously associated with Trump, such as the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, have argued that CISA should limit its work and focus on core infrastructure protection issues.
And LaRose, who has served as the Buckeye State’s top elections official since 2019, could also be a powerful advocate for the GOP effort to prevent noncitizens from voting in federal elections. He has already served as a leading voice for the SAVE Act and testified on the Hill in September in support of the voter ID bill, a favorite of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La) and Trump.
Voting among noncitizens is extremely rare in U.S. elections, although a majority of Americans support a government ID requirement, according to the Pew Research Center.
As Ohio’s top election official, LaRose has been proactive on cybersecurity issues for years. Yet his relative inexperience on broader security issues could be a weakness in his candidacy.
CISA’s work defending elections against foreign hackers is a modest part of a mandate that includes protecting pipelines, schools and government computer systems. The role also requires Senate confirmation, and former CISA heads Chris Krebs and Jen Easterly came to the agency with deep technical expertise in enterprise and digital security.
LaRose, who endorsed Trump during his 2022 re-election bid, is also seen as a possible candidate for newly elected Vice President J.D. Vance’s open Senate seat in Ohio. He previously served in the Ohio Senate from 2011 to 2018.
