Ramaswamy Launches Ohio Governor Bid After Passing on DOGE

Ramaswamy said Ohio once was an economic powerhouse and can be again with the help of a “new generation of leadership” who can direct the state through what he called a second industrial revolution by leading the country in industries such as semiconductors and aerospace.

President  Donald Trump “is reviving our conviction in America. We require a leader here at home who will revive our conviction in Ohio,” Ramaswamy said at the first stop of an announcement tour in his hometown of Cincinnati.

The 39-year old Ohio native is seeking to replace term-limited Governor Mike DeWine — a fellow Republican — in the 2026 gubernatorial contest. Ramaswamy has never held elective office before, but gained attention during his unsuccessful 2024 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination won by Trump. 

Trump tapped him to co-lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, within the federal government. That effort was the brainchild of Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla Inc. and the world’s richest person, who poured his money into Trump’s campaign to became his most prolific donor.

Ramaswamy, however, said he decided not to join DOGE, and that federal civil service laws would have barred him from running for office. He added that he was instead eager to bring that approach to slashing government spending and regulations in states like Ohio.

“When in doubt, push it to the states,” Ramaswamy said in a freewheeling X Spaces session with Musk in early February.

In his announcement speech in Cincinnati, Ramaswamy said his leadership would inspire Ohio to be “the top state in the country, where we embrace capitalism and meritocracy.” He vowed to reform public education with merit-based pay for teachers and administrators and, like Trump at the federal level, to cut at least 10 state regulations for every new one.

In an interview with Bloomberg News last September, Ramaswamy said he’d transform his home state into the next low-tax Florida or Texas.

“If other states have pulled it off and managed to get a boom of economic growth as a consequence, Ohio can too,” he said.

The gubernatorial bid follows a two-year political odyssey in which Ramaswamy rose from being a relatively obscure biotech executive and conservative author to the forefront of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. 

He was a prominent crusader against “woke” investing based on environmental, social and governance principles, using that platform to launch the longshot bid for the Republican nomination. He gained attention for his outspoken and combative debate performances before dropping out of the race and throwing his support behind Trump after a weak showing in the Iowa caucus. He would go on to earn Trump’s praise as a fervent surrogate on the campaign trail.

In his bid for the governor’s mansion, he enters a Republican primary field that includes Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and could potentially expand. Former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel, who DeWine recently named lieutenant governor, hasn’t ruled out a run. 

Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague, however, opted not to run against Ramaswamy, and Amy Acton, who served in DeWine’s cabinet as the state’s health director during the pandemic, is running as a Democrat. Yet the state has moved sharply to the right since 2016, and it’s been more than a decade since a Democrat won the governor’s mansion.

Ramaswamy starts off the primary race as the odds-on favorite thanks to his name identification and personal wealth, said Mark Weaver, a veteran Ohio Republican strategist. Focusing on national issues for the past two years shouldn’t hurt Ramaswamy in Ohio, he said.

“Being on a national stage, if it’s Trump’s national stage, will help any candidate win a Republican primary in Ohio,” Weaver said.

Republican political consultants who helped elect now-Vice President JD Vance to the US Senate in Ohio are involved in Ramaswamy’s bid for governor. They include Jai Chabria, who was chief strategist for Vance’s campaign and will be general consultant for Ramaswamy, and Andy Surabian, a senior adviser to Donald Trump Jr., who will oversee an outside political organization.

Ramaswamy had taken himself out of consideration for the appointment to replace Vance in the Senate despite Trump’s encouragement. DeWine instead appointed then-Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted, who had been gearing up to run for governor in 2026 — thus clearing the path for Ramaswamy.

Ramaswamy’s ambitions have shifted so greatly over the past two years — since first seeking the presidency, he’s been a cabinet hopeful, been tapped for DOGE, been seen as a potential Senate appointment and is now a candidate for governor — that Musk appeared to have trouble keeping track.

At the end of their discussion on X Spaces, Musk appeared unsure of what step Ramaswamy would take next, referring to him as “perhaps one-day Senator Ramaswamy — or Governor Ramaswamy?”

“Yeah, that’s kind of the direction we’re headed,” Ramaswamy replied.

(Updates with details of Ramaswamy’s announcement, from first paragraph.)

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