Vivek Ramaswamy formally declared his candidacy for Ohio governor on Monday during a rally in his hometown of Cincinnati where he outlined his plan to “revive our conviction” in the state of Ohio, where he says the “best days are still yet ahead.”
Ramaswamy, a multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate, for weeks has been moving towards launching a gubernatorial campaign in the 2026 race to succeed GOP Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio, who is term-limited and cannot seek re-election.
“I will lead Ohio to become the state of excellence in America,” Ramaswamy told the crowd. “Think that sounds unrealistic? It’s not. In fact, it wasn’t long ago that Ohio was that state. Today, young people on the internet make fun of something by saying ‘that’s so Ohio.’ But less than a century ago, people weren’t making fun of Ohio, they were aspiring to be Ohio.”
Ramaswamy, who’s now 39 years old, was among the contenders who challenged President Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination before dropping out of the race and becoming a top Trump ally and surrogate.
The vice president, who has known Ramaswamy since they both studied at Yale Law School, has put his imprint on Ohio politics since winning his 2022 Senate election.
Vance endorsed now-Sen. Bernie Moreno ahead of his 2024 GOP Senate primary victory, and key members of Vance’s political team steered Moreno’s campaign.
“We don’t have to be a state in decline,” Ramaswamy said on Monday. “A decade from now, when we cure a genetic disease; when we send rockets to Mars; when we power our electric grid with nuclear fusion…the thing people are going to say is ‘that’s so Ohio.’ And this is just the beginning.”
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.
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