Vivek Ramaswamy launches campaign for Ohio governor

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Vivek Ramaswamy, the 2024 Republican presidential candidate and short-lived co-chair of President Donald Trump’s government efficiency commission, launched his campaign for Ohio governor on Monday, Feb. 24, joining a contested primary that will test his star power in the Trump-led GOP.

“President Trump is reviving our conviction in America. We require a leader here at home who will revive our conviction in Ohio. That is why today I am honored to announce I am running to be the governor of a great state at the heart of the greatest nation known to mankind, the state where I was born and raised, the state where Apoorva and I raise our two sons today, a state whose best days are still yet ahead,” he said in his announcement speech at an aerospace company in Cincinnati, near his birthplace.

Ramaswamy is vying to succeed the state’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, who is term-limited, in the November 2026 election. The Republican primary already includes Dave Yost, Ohio’s attorney general and former state auditor.

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Ramaswamy’s candidacy could add to a major period of transition for Republicans in Ohio, a onetime battleground state in presidential elections that has become more comfortable territory for the GOP under Trump. Republicans flipped one of Ohio’s Senate seats in the last election, and DeWine recently appointed another Republican, former lieutenant governor Jon Husted, to the other seat after JD Vance resigned to become Trump’s vice president.

Ramaswamy framed his candidacy as a way to further the Trump agenda in the states, telling supporters that Trump’s success over the next two years “means a lot of federal programs – from education to health care – are moving from the federal government to the states.”

His remarks echoed his stump speech during his presidential campaign, where Ramaswamy warned of a national crisis fueled by “wokeism, transgenderism, climateism, and covidism,” and pitched a renewed focus on meritocracy. The 39-year-old continued to pitch himself as a leader for a new generation, telling attendees he would be “a governor with fresh legs who’s willing to drive hard change, who’s willing to run through any obstacle that stands in the way of turning Ohio into the state of economic excellence in America.”

Ramaswamy also used his remarks to champion policies like that of Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency” initiative, which he helped launch alongside Elon Musk.

Ramaswamy stepped down as DOGE co-chair shortly after Trump was inaugurated, citing his interest in running for Ohio governor and later saying he and Musk had different approaches to the work. The White House downplayed any tension around Ramaswamy’s exit, praising his contributions and saying they expected him “to play a vital role in making America great again.”

Ramaswamy said in his announcement speech that he would work to eliminate income taxes, bring property taxes down and reattach work requirements to Medicaid and welfare. He pitched Ohio as leading the new industrial revolution, arguing it could be a state of economic and educational excellence.

Much of his speech focused on education – promising universal school choice, police officers in every school, merit-based pay for public school educators and bringing back the Pledge of Allegiance every morning. He promised to “eliminate woke indoctrination and victimhood psychology with actual U.S. history and actual civics lesson.” Ramaswamy also called for every high school senior to have to pass the same civics test required by immigrants to become naturalized.

Ramaswamy was born in Cincinnati and raised in Ohio, before attending Harvard University to study biology and then Yale University to get a law degree. He went on to work for a hedge fund and started a pharmaceutical company, Roivant Sciences, in 2014 when he was 29 years old.

After making a name for himself on the national political stage, Ramaswamy is expected to rededicate himself to his home state with his campaign. He promised he would visit Ohio’s 88 counties this year, next year and each year as governor if elected.

In an interview before Ramaswamy’s announcement, Yost did not hesitate to criticize his rival’s short-lived time with the U.S. DOGE Service, saying that Ramaswamy “quit on President Trump literally on Day 1 of his administration.” Yost argued he has a record of “actually doing the work” to make government more efficient, citing the cost savings he found when he was state auditor.

“I was DOGE before DOGE was cool,” Yost said.

The GOP primary could grow to include the state’s new lieutenant governor, Jim Tressel (R), whom DeWine picked earlier this month. Neither has ruled out Tressel running for the top job, though DeWine’s office distanced itself from a website promoting Tressel for governor that surfaced Friday. A DeWine spokesperson said neither the governor nor lieutenant governor were “aware” of the website before media inquiries.

“To the extent we have a primary this year, I embrace that,” Ramaswamy said in his speech. “I welcome that because competition breeds innovation.”

Democrats have not held the Ohio governor’s office since 2011. Amy Acton, former director of the Ohio Department of Health, is running in the upcoming Democratic primary for governor. The Democratic Governors Association suggested Monday that they see an opening with Ramaswamy in the race.

“There’s a reason Ramaswamy’s presidential campaign was a non-starter in 2024: his ideas are dangerous, unhinged, and incredibly unpopular,” DGA campaign communications adviser Emma O’Brien said in a statement Monday. “Ramaswamy and his click-bait agenda would be a disaster for Ohioans.”

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