Entrepreneur and Cincinnati native Vivek Ramaswamy wants to Make Ohio Great Again.
Ramaswamy, who ran for president in 2024, kicked off his gubernatorial campaign on Monday. According to NBC News, Ramaswamy wants to reshape Ohio’s public schools, reduce regulations, and lower spending.
Last month, Ramaswamy left the Department of Government Efficiency, a sign many insiders said pointed toward his gubernatorial run. Then President-elect Donald Trump tapped Ramaswamy, 39, and fellow entrepreneur Elon Musk to head DOGE, a group tasked with reducing wasteful spending and eliminating burdensome regulations.
In separate social media posts, Musk and Trump endorsed Ramaswamy.
Will he now bring the DOGE mentality to Ohio?
“There are a lot of people sort of eager to sort of make that analogy and characterization,” Ramaswamy said, per NBC News. “But I think I characterize my vision for Ohio expansively.
“President Trump, Elon and I had a great relationship but talked about exactly where each of us was going to drive maximum change for the country,” Ramaswamy added, according to the NBC report. “And, for me, I believe that leading from the front here in Ohio and setting an example for the rest of the country and, frankly, even bringing some of the principles of efficiency and spending and deregulation to our state would be the way that I as a leader would be able to have the biggest impact.”
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who began his political career as Delaware County auditor, has also announced his candidacy for the state’s top elected post. So far, Yost and Ramaswamy are the two highest-profile Republicans who have announced their candidacies for Ohio governor.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose was also considered a potential Republican gubernatorial candidate, but he announced he would run for state auditor earlier this month. LaRose hopes to succeed Ohio Auditor Keith Faber, who is running for attorney general.
On the Democratic side, Dr. Amy Acton, the controversial former state health director during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, is the only announced candidate. However, Ohio House of Representatives Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, former Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown and former Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan could consider entering the race.
Political insiders also considered Ramaswamy a potential pick for the vacated U.S. Senate seat of Vice President J.D. Vance. Ramaswamy purportedly met with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine about the vacancy, but the governor ultimately tapped former Lt. Governor Jon Husted.
In preparation for his gubernatorial announcement, Ramaswamy has attended various sporting events in Ohio and nationwide, including the Super Bowl in New Orleans, the Daytona 500 in Florida and a Cleveland Cavaliers basketball game.
According to a report in the National Review, a Yost campaign polling memo argues that Ramaswamy’s position as front runner status is not as strong as some think it is and that Trump’s endorsement could determine the race’s winner. The memo indicates that while Ramaswamy has 46% of likely voters in the GOP primary and Yost has 18%, more than a third (34%) are undecided.
“While Yost enjoys broad support across demographic groups, the Attorney General overperforms among ‘traditional conservative Republicans’ and Evangelical Protestants — two key components of the Republican primary base in Ohio,” National Review quoted NPA partner Justin Clark as writing in a Feb. 18 polling memo. “It should not come as a surprise that Ramaswamy has high name ID having run on the national stage against President Trump and having worked on the transition team before abandoning the Trump administration to fulfill his own political ambitions.”
