COLUMBUS, Ohio — Vivek Ramaswamy, a Cincinnati-born biotech entrepreneur who left President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative on his first day, was expected to announce his candidature for Ohio governor on Monday.
Ramaswamy, 39, will launch his campaign in Cincinnati, joining the 2026 Republican primary just a month after presumed frontrunner and then-Lt. Gov. Jon Husted dropped out to take a U.S. Senate appointment.
Ramaswamy sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 before withdrawing to support Trump, who later appointed him to co-chair the efficiency initiative alongside billionaire Elon Musk.
Ramaswamy, a near-billionaire, has promoted his ties to Trump as he seeks key endorsements and donors in the governor’s race, but the president has yet to make a formal endorsement.
Ramaswamy joins a competitive GOP primary field to succeed Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, 78, a veteran center-right politician whose term is up.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced his candidature for the seat in January, and Heather Hill, a Black entrepreneur from Appalachia, is also running. Dr. Amy Acton, the former state health director who helped Ohio navigate the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, is running as a Democrat.
They will compete in a former bellwether state that has consistently turned red in recent years, voting for Trump three times by more than eight percentage points. Republicans also control all statewide executive offices, a majority of the Ohio Supreme Court, and supermajorities in both legislative chambers.
Ramaswamy, a Hindu, outlined the ten core beliefs featured in his presidential campaign — led by “God is real” and followed by “there are two genders” — in the 2024 book “Truths: The Future of America First.”
He first rose to political prominence with his 2021 book, “Woke Inc: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam,” which was a scathing critique of corporations that he claimed used social justice causes as a smokescreen for self-serving policies.
He intends to deviate from the traditional path to Ohio’s governorship, which involves extensive government service that can last decades, and instead launch a Trump-style ascent into the position directly from business.
The formula worked for Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno, two political newcomers who won Senate seats in 2022 and 2024 thanks to Trump’s endorsement. Ramaswamy, however, will put it to the test in a state government race for the first time in recent memory.
DeWine passed over Ramaswamy to appoint Husted to the Senate seat vacated by Vance, citing Husted’s extensive elective experience.
Husted’s gubernatorial bid, as a former Ohio House speaker and secretary of state, had secured many key endorsements and wealthy donors, who are now mostly free agents.
Yost entered the race after hearing rumours that Ramaswamy was planning to run. Since then, Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague and Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose have endorsed Ramaswamy.
