Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign for governor and the promises he made to rural Ohio
The Cincinnati-area entrepreneur launched his run for governor in February 2025 with the backing of Donald Trump and the Ohio Republican Party.
Vivek Ramaswamy began 2025 attached to Elon Musk’s federal cost-cutting effort and by spring was the leading Republican candidate for governor of Ohio. He launched his campaign in Cincinnati in February 2025, and within weeks had endorsements from Donald Trump and the Ohio Republican Party.
The governor’s race is open because Gov. Mike DeWine is term-limited. We wrote about DeWine’s last year and what is at stake for farm programs.
Who he is
Ramaswamy grew up in the Cincinnati suburb of Evendale, the son of Indian immigrants. His father worked as an engineer at General Electric’s aviation plant. He graduated from Harvard and Yale Law School, worked in investing, and in 2014 founded Roivant Sciences, a biotech company that made him wealthy.
He became nationally known with books criticizing corporate social and environmental policies and then ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, dropping out after the Iowa caucuses and endorsing Trump.
What he has proposed
Ramaswamy has campaigned on cutting and eventually eliminating Ohio’s state income tax, overhauling education with more school choice and tougher standards, and reducing regulation. He has talked about making Ohio a place for new manufacturing and energy investment, including nuclear power.
Income tax is a real question for small towns, where state aid to schools and local governments is built into budgets. Bellevue City Schools, like most Ohio districts, relies on a mix of local levies and state foundation funding. How a statewide income tax cut would be paid for has been a central question from Democrats and some fellow Republicans. Our Finance section tracks levies and tax changes that reach households here.
The field
On the Democratic side, former Ohio Health Director Amy Acton, who led the state’s early pandemic response, entered the race early. We profiled Acton’s campaign separately. Other Republicans who considered the race, including Attorney General Dave Yost and Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel, stepped aside.
Ohio’s primary is May 5, 2026, and the general election is Nov. 3. Voters can find their polling place through the secretary of state.