Trump-backed Ramaswamy ready to pour millions into Ohio governor’s race

FIRST ON FOX: Vivek Ramaswamy is putting his money where his mouth is.

The multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and business leader fueled his campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination with over $30 million of his own money.

And in a Fox News Digital interview Thursday, Ramaswamy revealed that when it comes to his 2026 Republican campaign for Ohio governor, “we are prepared to invest at the same scale or greater.”

“Whatever is required to ensure that we’re successful in really leading the state to the next level,” Ramaswamy said. “Losing this race is not an option. Winning is the only option, and we’re going to win it. And I think that that will require resources of every form.”

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Ramaswamy was interviewed the day after his campaign announced that he had raised nearly $10 million in a little over four months since he announced his gubernatorial candidacy in late February. Ramaswamy’s campaign touted that the money raked in set a “record for the largest first-quarter fundraising total in state history.”

“I think it says that we have unprecedented support in our state, and that is a beautiful thing to see this early in a Republican race,” Ramswamy said. “And I think that that’s a powerful signal of unity.”

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Ramaswamy, who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, noted he’s the only major Republican candidate right now in the race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Mike DeWine.

“I’m running unopposed in a Republican primary in a state that is certainly leaning reliably red, and I’m proud to say that we have united, not just the Republicans in Ohio, but we are beginning to draw support from a wide range of nontraditional Republican backers, entrepreneurs, younger people,” he added. 

State Attorney General Dave Yost launched a gubernatorial campaign but dropped out of the race in May.

Ohio Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel, a former longtime Ohio State University head football coach who later served as president of Youngstown State University, said earlier this year he was considering a run for governor. But speculation surrounding Tressel has faded in recent weeks after his initial comments were not followed by any announcement.

Asked if he has any concerns about facing a competitive primary, Ramaswamy said, “None, zero.”

“I like Jim a lot. He and I have had some great conversations, none of which were about this race,” Ramaswamy said. “I actually consider him to be a guy who is bringing a great spirit and tenor to Ohio. And I view Coach Tressel as an asset that I want to see our state continue to use to revive our sense of unity and spirit and ambition and pursuit of success.”

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In the race for the Democratic nomination in the onetime battleground turned red state, former Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton launched a gubernatorial bid in January.

But all eyes are on former longtime Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who narrowly lost his Senate seat in last year’s election to GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno.

Brown is thought to be a potential candidate in either the Senate or gubernatorial races.

Ramaswamy said he “would love the Democrats to have a competitive primary while I continue to run unopposed in this race.”

But he suggested it didn’t matter who the Democrats nominate because “it’s not who we’re running against, it’s what we’re actually running for.”

“I think we have incredible strength,” he added before predicting “that we’re going to defeat whoever we are up against by, I believe, a decisive margin.”

The 39-year-old Ramaswamy launched his presidential campaign in February 2023 and quickly saw his stock rise as he went from a long shot to a contender for the Republican nomination, as part of a field of candidates challenging Trump.

He campaigned on what he called an “America First 2.0” agenda and was one of Trump’s biggest supporters in the field of rivals, calling Trump the “most successful president in our century.”

Ramaswamy dropped his White House bid early last year after a distant fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses and quickly endorsed Trump, becoming a top surrogate on the campaign trail.

Trump, in the days after his November presidential election victory, named Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, along with Ramaswamy, to steer the newly announced Department of Government Efficiency initiative, better known as DOGE.

But in January, as Trump was inaugurated, the new administration announced Ramaswamy was no longer serving at DOGE. Ramaswamy’s exit cleared the way for Musk, Trump’s top donor and, at the time, a key ally, to steer DOGE without having to share the limelight. Ramaswamy quickly moved toward launching a run for governor.

Ramaswamy was raised in Evendale, Ohio, in suburban Cincinnati by parents who emigrated from India. His father worked as an engineer at General Electric Aviation, and his mother was a geriatric psychiatrist. Ramaswamy and his family live in suburban Columbus.

The candidate noted that “one of my core areas of focus that I think is really resonating, is elevating the standards of educational achievement in our state.”

“The No. 1 issue that I see resonating across the board, in a non-partisan manner, is the recognition that we are in the middle of this educational achievement crisis,” he added.

And Ramaswamy insisted that “anybody who’s a parent, or even anybody who’s a young person recently graduating from school, recognizes that this is going to be an issue that we have to turn around, to preserve our place, the leading country in the world, and that is the project that we are going to make Ohio ground zero for in the United States.”

Fox News’ Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report