What has Vivek Ramaswamy said about
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His campaign promises lower costs and bigger paychecks. He has also called affordability a buzzword, questioned whether costs are really rising, and argued against a living wage. When gas prices spiked, he pushed a gas tax holiday that Amy Acton proposed first.
“The truth of the matter is, people in my generation have already made it. We're gonna be fine.”
He said this to a conservative youth audience, which booed him offstage.
“rising or perceived to be rising costs”
He used the phrase in a TV interview about affordability. After Amy Acton and David Pepper criticized it, his campaign adviser and Ramaswamy himself pushed back online.
“buzzword”
The New York Times reported he is framing his race around "economic abundance" and dismisses "affordability" as a Democratic buzzword.
“The number one practical way to make the American dream affordable in a state like Ohio is actually to defend yourself against that inflation by increasing your take-home pay, your after tax pay.”
In a campaign video, he said the most a governor can do about grocery, electric, and insurance bills is cut income and property taxes, adding that "politicians aren't magicians, though some would try to pretend to be." The first and biggest step in his income tax plan eliminates the capital gains tax, which mostly benefits wealthy investors like him. In the same video he claimed Amy Acton would raise income and property taxes. Her published plans call for targeted tax credits and property tax relief.
“The reason I want to dismantle the regulatory state is not because that is a more important objective than helping the American worker. It is because I believe it is the way to best aid the American worker.”
On the Flagrant podcast, a host said no one can live on $15 an hour for 40 hours a week. Earlier in the exchange he said he "would love people to be able to earn more as well, which requires a vibrant economy."
“...if the living-wage campaign were successful in achieving a wage increase for Harvard's lowest-paid workers, it will have done so at the cost of respect that the rest of the Harvard community has for these workers.”
In a Harvard Crimson op-ed, he argued a living wage would cost janitors and other low-paid staff the respect of the campus community, "a cost that, no matter how high the wage increase, is too high to pay."
He left every question blank on iVoterGuide's 2026 primary questionnaire, including "What is your position on the minimum wage?" His platform does not mention the minimum wage.
Acton called for a gas tax holiday first. Days later he announced a plan with GOP legislative leaders, including his running mate, Senate President Rob McColley. Lawmakers passed it 26-5 in the Senate and 78-16 in the House, using more than $700 million in surplus funds. It took effect Oct. 4. Democrats who voted for it estimated the average driver saves about $3 a week.
The first step in his income tax plan eliminates the capital gains tax. His 2025 capital gains from one stock sale alone came to $768,968. See "Income & capital gains taxes" for more.
His signature promise is ending Ohio's income tax. The first step he proposes is a cut that pays off for people who earn money from investments, like him.
“Phase out the state income tax—starting with eliminating capital gains taxes—so every Ohioan keeps more of what they earn.”
His campaign told the Columbus Dispatch he would end the capital gains tax in his first two-year budget and phase out the rest of the income tax over eight to 10 years, paid for by economic growth and "a holistic review" of spending.
His April 2026 Ohio Ethics Commission disclosure shows $768,968 in capital gains from selling BlackBerry stock in 2025. Eliminating the capital gains tax, the first step in his plan, would wipe out the state tax on gains like that one.
Replacing that money would take a 20% increase in property taxes or a 65% increase in sales taxes. Without it, the cuts would fall on Medicaid and public schools.
“Ohio right now doesn't even get that much revenue from taxing capital gains. It's about 300 million a year.”
In a June 23 Wall Street Journal interview, he called ending the capital gains tax "revenue neutral." On July 1, he told Hugh Hewitt it was about $300 million a year. On July 14, he said it was "only a few hundred million dollars" and "does not leave a major hole." Ohio's nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission estimates it would cost $615 million to $648 million in 2027 alone.
“Thankfully, Ohio is in a much more privileged position than a lot of those other states that try to wave a magic wand.”
Kansas's 2010s income tax cuts led to a budget crisis despite promises that growth would cover the lost revenue. He promises his cuts will instead produce "a boom that this state has not seen since the first Industrial Revolution."
He promises to roll property taxes back. Local schools, police, fire, and libraries depend on that money, and his plan doesn't say how it gets replaced.
His campaign page argues schools got more money and delivered worse results, and calls for historic rollbacks.
Innovation Ohio estimates his plan would remove about a quarter of property tax revenue, which pays for classrooms, police and fire, and public libraries.
“We're going to deliver the biggest property tax cut we have ever seen in the history of our state ... [it] does not in any way hurt police, fire or the quality of our schools.”
Innovation Ohio estimates his rollback would cost schools $2.4 billion a year at today's levels, growing to $4 billion by the time it took effect. Funding would come directly from local property tax levies, including those for public safety services.
He has called Social Security privatization a reasonable conversation and said he doesn't like the existence of safety net programs.
“in principle, in the long run that's a reasonable conversation to have.”
He was asked whether "privatization or partial privatization" would be on the table for his administration. As a presidential candidate he also backed investing retirement funds in stocks and bonds.
“…there's a certain amount of money that gets paid out in Social Security or Medicaid payments or in welfare payments; I don't like the existence of those policies.”
In the same clip he says he would vote to "significantly constrain and attach work requirements to most of the welfare state as we know it."
“Twenty years ago we should have allowed people to actually invest their Social Security money or the government to invest Social Security money in the same way that we would have allowed any private citizen to do in the stock market and in bonds and otherwise.”
He told AARP this in February 2024. At an August 2023 New Hampshire town hall, he said that if Social Security had invested "in a diversified portfolio, we would be swimming in surplus today." Retirement experts warn that tying benefits to the market could leave retirees with much less if stocks fall.
He has said creating Medicaid was a mistake. His campaign now says his Medicaid plan targets only fraud.
“I believe they were, with the benefit of retrospect: particularly Medicaid.”
He said this on The Ezra Klein Show in October 2024, months before launching his campaign for governor. More than 3 million Ohioans are covered by Medicaid.
“We need to bring down those health care bills. And I think one of the ways to do it is to think about how we actually put money in the pockets of Ohioans.”
He named eliminating the income tax and rolling back property taxes as ways to address health care costs, rather than any change to insurance or Medicaid.
He says Ohio has too many public universities and they should be consolidated. Gov. Mike DeWine opposes the idea.
“I love universities in Ohio. I want us to have the best universities, but we have too many of them. They need to be consolidated.”
In a Columbus Dispatch column still featured on his website, he praised Georgia for cutting its public universities from 35 to 26 and said Ohio should go further. The column names Kent State.
“I don't think you should be funding subpar universities”
He told a student this at Ohio State. In his Dispatch column he had singled out those four schools as having "previous challenges." Cleveland State's president responded that more than 85% of its graduates live and work in Northeast Ohio.
“I am convinced I will be the person who saves the long-run sustainability of public universities in Ohio.”
The Toledo Blade noted his comments were more nuanced than his March call for consolidation. Gov. DeWine has said merging four-year colleges is not a good idea.
His property tax and income tax plans would each cut billions from Ohio's public schools, while he pushes to expand private school vouchers. He has repeatedly targeted teachers unions and promises to end "woke indoctrination" in classrooms.
Innovation Ohio estimates his plan to roll property taxes back to pre-pandemic levels would take up to $6.6 billion a year from local governments once it takes effect. About three-fifths of property tax revenue goes to school districts, so schools would lose an estimated $2.4 billion a year at today's levels, growing to $4 billion by the time a new governor could implement it. Districts would have to cut teachers and programs or ask voters for new levies.
If lawmakers cut schools in proportion to the lost revenue, state aid to K-12 schools would fall by about $2.4 billion, nearly 10% of total school funding. A district-by-district analysis by Innovation Ohio and Ohioans United for Public Education finds Cuyahoga County districts would lose nearly $111 million. Smaller and rural districts would be hit hardest: Steubenville City Schools would lose 17.1% of its revenue, and Washington-Nile Local Schools in Scioto County would lose 16.9%.
“Now I'm not going to say that if you lower funding that automatically means outcomes are going to improve, but it means that there are other factors far more responsible for whether students perform far more than this silly accounting debate.”
He said this at an Americans for Prosperity education forum in August 2025, arguing public education has "devolved into an accounting debate." In June 2026 he told the Wall Street Journal the problem is "the absence of standards, not the absence of dollars." Both of his tax plans would cut billions from Ohio's school funding.
“the civil rights issue of our era”
He said this in a June 2026 Wall Street Journal interview, adding "every parent deserves the right to choose where their kids go." He has said Ohio should "go further in the direction of school choice," and his campaign told the Columbus Dispatch he supports expanding vouchers and EdChoice. Ohio's universal voucher program already spends about $1 billion a year on private school tuition.
“Make parenting more affordable by making school year-round and going until 4 instead of 3 so you don't have to pay for childcare”
After the November 2025 video drew backlash, his campaign deleted it, and some of his supporters falsely claimed it was AI-generated. News outlets confirmed it was real.
“…the one area of collective bargaining that I would not rule out eliminating”
He said this to Teamsters president Sean O'Brien in July 2025, while backing other unions. In October 2023 he said, "I think we need to end teachers' unions," and told a Republican fundraiser that teachers unions are "blowing woke smoke to deflect accountability for their own failure." In January 2025 he said, "I don't think public teachers unions make sense," because teachers are "unionizing against the very people you're supposed to serve." Running for governor, he told an Americans for Prosperity audience in August 2025 that his plans are "pro-teacher. May not be pro-teacher union," and that teacher salaries should be set by district administrators, "not through collective bargaining agreements with unions." Both Ohio teachers unions have endorsed Amy Acton.
“[teach] our kids to be proud of our country and proud of our state rather than be ashamed of them”
That's how he described the U.S. history Ohio should teach, in a 2025 speech to Clark County Republicans where he also promised to replace "the woke DEI regime" with merit. At his campaign launch, he pledged to eliminate "woke indoctrination" from classrooms.
“It is our moral responsibility to make sure that you are able to read at any basic level before you advance to the fourth grade.”
He has promised to "bring back the third-grade reading guarantee." The Ohio Capital Journal reported he would revive the recently ended policy requiring the state to hold back students who struggle to read. His platform targets "3rd-grade literacy, 8th-grade numeracy, and 12th-grade civics." The Columbus Dispatch noted Ohio has tried and abandoned similar approaches before. Asked at a Dayton food bank how to fight childhood hunger, he said that if you're reading by the end of third grade, "you are basically statistically near impossible…to end up in poverty."
At his campaign launch, he proposed requiring high school students to pass the same civics exam immigrants take to become citizens. As a presidential candidate, he proposed using that same test to decide whether 18- to 24-year-olds could vote.
He says he's not "pro-data center," but he owns stock across the data center industry and won't commit to selling it. He warns of an AI "surveillance state" but opposes banning Flock's AI-powered license plate cameras.
His disclosures show stock in Amazon, Microsoft, and Nvidia, and Innovation Ohio found holdings across the data center supply chain. As governor he would appoint the boards that approve and regulate these projects.
Asked by the Columbus Dispatch, his campaign did not say whether he would sell.
“the capital of AI”
On the Flagrant podcast weeks before launching his campaign, he said he wants Ohio to replicate "what was possible in Silicon Valley for the last 20 years." On his launch tour he promised a "second industrial revolution" in nuclear energy, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence. Several of the tech billionaires funding his campaign stand to profit from that buildout.
“It takes two years to build an AI data center or Bitcoin mining firm or whatever — all of which I want in the state, by the way.”
He said this at a March 2025 Lincoln Day Dinner. TiffinOhio.net reported he praised data centers on 10 separate occasions in just over a month and called Ohio's data center boom "good" on X.
“too complex”
Acton asked lawmakers to pass a conditional moratorium on new data centers during their September special session. He dismissed the idea as "too complex." He owns stock across the data center industry.
“left-wing world view”
At a town hall in New Philadelphia, he called opposition to data centers part of a "left-wing world view" and said they represent "reindustrialization and high-paying jobs coming back to our state."
“Our data centers, like any other form of economic development, they pay for their own power utilization, and they should.”
He said this at a Lakeside town hall. Ohio data centers have received $2.5 billion in state and local tax incentives since 2017, including sales tax exemptions and property tax abatements of up to 75% lasting 15 to 30 years.
He says climate policies have hurt more people than climate change and wants Ohio to "drill, frack, continue using coal." Asked about rising electric bills, he points to new power plants that take years to build.
“The climate change agenda is a hoax.”
He said this at the first Republican presidential debate in August 2023, arguing that efforts to cut carbon emissions should be abandoned. Part of the debate audience booed.
“The reality is the anti-carbon agenda is the wet blanket on our economy. And so the reality is more people are dying of bad climate change policies than they are of actual climate change.”
He said this at the first Republican presidential debate in August 2023, the same night he called "the climate change agenda" "a hoax."
“Drill Baby Drill. Frack Baby Frack”
In the same post on X, he called for Ohio to "drill, frack, continue using coal, and embrace nuclear energy."
“a potential safety hazard in the event of a tornado”
At an April 2026 forum, he said he opposes building wind turbines in Lake Erie. He described them as economically and environmentally inefficient and a potential safety hazard in the event of a tornado.
He wants Ohio's public pension systems, which hold the retirement savings of teachers, police, and firefighters, to be able to invest in Bitcoin. His company is one of the largest corporate Bitcoin holders, and he owns Bitcoin personally.
“A thoughtful & powerful bill here in Ohio”
He praised HB 18 in a January 2025 post on X. The bill would let Ohio's public pension systems, which cover hundreds of thousands of teachers, police officers, firefighters, and public employees, invest in crypto, and let the state treasurer put up to 10% of state funds into digital assets. Innovation Ohio estimates it could open the door to $27.5 billion in Ohio public money flowing into Bitcoin and similar assets. Strive, the company he founded, has bet more than $1 billion on Bitcoin, and as of April 2026 its Bitcoin was worth about a third less than it paid. His 2026 financial disclosure shows he personally holds Bitcoin and Ethereum, so a surge of public buying would raise the value of his own holdings.
“the strongest pro-Bitcoin governor in the nation”
He made the pledge at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in May 2025. In January 2025 he called Ohio's HB 18, which would let state and pension funds invest in crypto, a "thoughtful & powerful bill." He personally holds Bitcoin and Ethereum, and his company Strive bet nearly $1 billion on Bitcoin.
He proposed raising the voting age to 25, wants voter ID written into Ohio's constitution, and said he would not have certified the 2020 election results the way Mike Pence did.
“I'm announcing my support for a constitutional amendment to raise the voting age from 18 to 25, but to still allow 18-year-olds to vote if they either pass the same civics test required of immigrants to become naturalized citizens, or else to perform 6 months of military or first responder service.”
He published an op-ed backing a constitutional voter ID amendment and rallied for Issue 3 in August 2026.
“What Trump did last week was wrong. Downright abhorrent. Plain and simple.”
He posted this on Jan. 12, 2021. Running for president in 2023, he called Trump "the best president of the 21st century," and when an MSNBC host asked him repeatedly what Trump had done that was "downright abhorrent," he wouldn't say.
He told NBC's Meet the Press he would have demanded Congress change election laws before certifying the 2020 results.
He has called Jan. 6 an "inside job," questioned whether federal agents were on the 9/11 planes, claimed "Big Tech" stole the 2020 election, and called the climate change agenda "a hoax."
“Jan. 6 now does look like it was an inside job”
He made the claim at a presidential primary debate and repeated it the next day on CNN. On the anniversary in 2024, he called Jan. 6 "Happy Entrapment Day."
“I think it is legitimate to say how many police, how many federal agents, were on the planes that hit the Twin Towers.”
He said this to The Atlantic while arguing about federal agents at Jan. 6. When the quote drew backlash, he told CNN he had been misquoted. The Atlantic released the audio, which showed he was quoted accurately. He later said he didn't believe agents were on the planes, but repeated that the government lied about Saudi Arabia's role in 9/11.
“Why am I the only person on the stage at least who can say... that the 2020 election was indeed stolen by big tech”
At a December 2023 presidential debate and in a CNN interview the next night, he claimed "Big Tech" stole the 2020 election and that the 2016 election, which Trump won, was "stolen from him" by the national security establishment. U.S. officials called 2020 the most secure election in American history.
He has called abortion murder and backed a six-week ban at the state level.
“I'm unapologetically pro-life. And like many in the pro-life movement, I believe that abortion is a form of murder.”
Said on NBC's Meet the Press during his presidential campaign. He also backed state bans at six weeks.
“A Black baby is probably safer…in the inner city of Chicago, than in the womb of his own Black mother.”
He said this on his 2023 podcast. The clip resurfaced in June 2026 and drew millions of views and widespread condemnation.
“It was my home state of Ohio, I'm upset about this, yesterday that passed a constitutional amendment that now effectively codifies a right to abortion all the way up to the time of birth without parental consent.”
He said this at a Republican presidential debate the day after Ohio voters passed Issue 1 with 57% of the vote. The amendment protects abortion until viability. He has since been endorsed by Ohio Right to Life groups and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
He calls himself a Second Amendment absolutist and is endorsed by the NRA and Buckeye Firearms.
“Everyone has the right to carry a gun.”
Forbes reported in 2023 that this included people with felony records. He supports constitutional carry and opposes red flag laws. The NRA and Buckeye Firearms Association endorsed him in April 2026.
He backed legalizing marijuana nationwide as a presidential candidate, then voted against Ohio's 2023 legalization measure. As a candidate for governor, he won't say what he would do with Ohio's marijuana and hemp laws.
“I think we should align the federal law with the state law.”
On Bill Maher's Club Random podcast, he called the conflict between state and federal marijuana laws "a farce" and "a joke." Asked whether that meant federal legalization, he said, "That's what that means, yeah." His campaign confirmed he favored federal legalization, and he backed decriminalizing ayahuasca and ketamine for veterans with PTSD.
“I voted no on that one.”
He said this on CNN the night Ohio's Issue 2 passed with 57% of the vote. He called state legalization under federal prohibition an "abandonment of the rule of law" and objected to tax revenue going to social equity programs. Three months earlier he had told Bill Maher the answer to that same state-federal conflict was legalizing marijuana nationwide.
His campaign did not answer cleveland.com's questions about Ohio's marijuana law or intoxicating hemp products, which Amy Acton and Libertarian Don Kissick both answered. Asked by the Columbus Dispatch, his campaign said only that he opposed Issue 2 partly because it conflicts with federal law and "will work with law enforcement and regulating bodies to ensure that Ohioans are safe." His platform does not mention marijuana.
He campaigns on backing the blue, stricter bail and sentencing, and the death penalty. But when Proud Boys leaders were sentenced for Jan. 6, he called it "wrong" and vowed pardons, while saying BLM "rioters roam free." He warns of an "authoritarian surveillance state" yet opposes limits on police surveillance cameras.
“Back the blue by empowering local police and sheriffs to arrest violent criminals quickly and decisively.”
His platform also calls for "stricter bail and sentencing for repeat violent offenders." The Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, 65 county sheriffs, and the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association have endorsed him.
“This is wrong and it's sad”
He posted this after Proud Boys leaders were sentenced for seditious conspiracy, including Enrique Tarrio, who got 22 years. The next day he vowed to pardon all "peaceful, nonviolent" Jan. 6 participants and said: "America now has a two-tiered justice system: Antifa and BLM rioters roam free while peaceful January 6 protesters are imprisoned without bail." Running for governor, he promises police who arrest "quickly and decisively," stricter bail and sentencing for violent offenders, and supports the death penalty.
That's his campaign's answer to the Columbus Dispatch. Gov. DeWine has blocked every execution since taking office and now says Ohio should abolish the death penalty. More than 100 people are on Ohio's death row, and the next governor will decide whether executions resume. His campaign has not said how Ohio would carry them out, since the state has been unable to obtain lethal injection drugs.
“I'm going to… replace a lot of these activist judges”
He said this in a radio interview. Ohio judges are elected. A governor can only appoint someone when a seat comes open, not remove sitting judges over their rulings.
“want to see law enforcement at the federal level, at the state and local level, work collaboratively instead of seeing state and local law enforcement thwart the efforts of the federal government”
He said most Americans want this. A national Quinnipiac poll found 56% of Americans disapprove of how ICE is doing its job.
“it's not hard to imagine a Chinese-style surveillance state.”
When a voter asked about Flock's AI-powered license plate cameras at the Butler County Fair, he said "it's not hard to imagine a Chinese-style surveillance state," but proposed no action. In September, Amy Acton came out for a statewide ban on Flock cameras. Ramaswamy opposes a ban, saying only that the cameras shouldn't be used in private spaces and misuse should be taken seriously. He hasn't said what regulations he would support.
“We are going to bring back the psychiatric institutions that were wrongfully shuttered. This is a touchy subject, but I'm going to go there.”
His platform lists bringing back state psychiatric institutions under its "crime" policies, as a way to "address severe psychiatric illness so officers can focus on fighting crime," and he raises it with law enforcement audiences. He made the pledge in his campaign launch speech and doubled down online the next day: "Bring back the psychiatric institutions... This shouldn't be controversial." At an April 2026 mental health forum, the Ohio Capital Journal reported he did not say what the new facilities would cost. Ohio's six state psychiatric hospitals today provide short-term care, with average acute stays of about two weeks.
“a form of psychological slavery that holds Black Americans back by teaching them that they can't get ahead without... somebody giving them a boost”
In the same video he called affirmative action "a cancer on our national soul" and said Great Society programs gave Black families "an incentive to live in single-parent households."
His comments on Ohio and American workers have drawn criticism from both parties.
“Ohio is a good state, I can't say it's the best state.”
He said this while conceding the point to a woman from Indiana. The clip went viral on X.
“Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long.”
He posted this in December 2024, defending visas for foreign tech workers, weeks before launching his campaign for governor. In the same post he said a "culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers."
“from a business perspective, Texas was the right decision.”
Strive said in announcing the move that "from a business perspective, Texas was the right decision." At Ohio State in April 2026, he complained that businesses "move to Tennessee, to Texas, to Florida" instead of investing in Ohio, without mentioning his own company's move.
His campaign has spent more than $1 million on private jet expenses, and he has spent much of the race outside Ohio.
NBC News found campaign payments to aircraft companies including V Leasing LLC, Coshocton Air, and TVPX Aircraft Solutions. A former county Republican chair told NBC: "Park the damn jet."
At least 22 billionaires are backing his campaign or the super PAC supporting him, and all but two live outside Ohio. Many work in industries he would oversee as governor, including AI, defense tech, data centers, and crypto.
Elon Musk, Jeff Yass, Ratmir Timashev, Bill Ackman, and Ross Stevens have given V-PAC a combined $37 million. Super PACs can take unlimited contributions, while donations to his campaign are capped at $16,615. In June alone, V-PAC spent more than $8.1 million on a single ad attacking Amy Acton. Innovation Ohio has identified 22 billionaires backing his campaign or the super PAC; all but two live outside Ohio.
Musk, whose AI company xAI builds massive data centers, co-led DOGE with Ramaswamy. Ratmir Timashev, whose venture firm is recruiting AI companies to Columbus, had never made a political contribution in Ohio or federally before this one. As governor, Ramaswamy would appoint JobsOhio's board, the Ohio Power Siting Board, and the Public Utilities Commission, the bodies that decide how data centers get approved and who pays for their power.
All three were seed investors in Strive, the asset manager he co-founded in 2022 and later turned into a Bitcoin treasury company. Ackman has since given $1 million to the super PAC backing his campaign for governor. Lonsdale is co-founding Erebor Bank, a new bank headquartered in Columbus that serves AI, defense, and crypto companies.
Ross Stevens founded Stone Ridge and its Bitcoin company NYDIG. He is one of five billionaires, with Musk, Jeff Yass, Ratmir Timashev, and Bill Ackman, who have given the super PAC a combined $37 million. Ramaswamy backs letting Ohio invest state money in Bitcoin.
Anduril founder Palmer Luckey and his wife gave $33,231, and his mother gave another $16,615. Anduril is building Arsenal-1, a 5-million-square-foot weapons plant near Columbus. Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale gave $16,615 and is co-founding Erebor Bank in Columbus with backing from Luckey and Peter Thiel. Figure AI founder Brett Adcock, whose company builds humanoid robots to do factory and warehouse work, gave $16,615 in his first known contribution to any Ohio race.
Michael Saylor, chairman of Strategy, the company that pioneered holding Bitcoin as a corporate treasury, gave $5,000 to his campaign. Ramaswamy's Strive copied that model, and in March 2026 Strive spent $50 million on Strategy's preferred stock. Both men stand to benefit if Ohio lets state and pension funds invest in crypto.
Jimmy and Dee Haslam gave his campaign $33,230. Their $600 million state grant for a new Browns stadium in Brook Park came from Ohio's unclaimed funds, a mechanism championed by Senate President Rob McColley, now Ramaswamy's running mate. On Sept. 1 the Haslams hosted a fundraiser for Ramaswamy at their Ohio home, asking event chairs to raise $100,000 each.
Jeff Yass, co-founder of the trading firm Susquehanna, has given $20 million to the super PAC backing Ramaswamy, more than anyone else. Yass is one of the largest funders of the national school voucher movement. Ramaswamy's campaign told the Columbus Dispatch he supports expanding Ohio's voucher and EdChoice programs.
Reporters and Ohio's Republican governor have publicly disputed claims in his ads.
Records show the woman featured in the ad died in a Kentucky hospice weeks after Ohio's stay-at-home order ended. The woman telling the story is a member of the Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee.
“I told her to issue the health order. The decision was mine.”
That's DeWine, responding to a Ramaswamy ad claiming Acton "called off Ohio's election." It was at least the fourth time DeWine publicly contradicted a Ramaswamy claim or proposal.
“worked with the lieutenant governor as an adviser on COVID-19”
He confirmed the role to the Associated Press in May 2026. He had earlier paid a Wikipedia editor to remove it from his biography, calling that a "simple correction" because the panel "never met." In 2020 he also promoted a national COVID immunity registry, which he now describes as part of a "nuanced" position about "getting the economy going again."
Viral moments from his campaign appearances.
An eyewitness said he made contact on 5 of 25 pitches.
“You know, look, I love long drives, right? ... You think about Cuyahoga National Park, not far from where we are. I'm a nature guy.”
A Youngstown TV interviewer asked for his favorite place in the Mahoning Valley. Cuyahoga Valley National Park sits between Cleveland and Akron, about an hour away. He skipped spots actually in the Valley, like Mill Creek Park and Mosquito Lake State Park. And the self-described lover of long drives spent about $780,000 on private jet flights in 2025.
“other than to complain about what someone else did to her”
He posted this on X about Acton, who has spoken publicly about surviving childhood sexual abuse. Her campaign called it an attempt to shame a survivor. His campaign denied that was his intent.
Vivek on the Record is published by Innovation Ohio. Quotes are reproduced as spoken or written; summaries and headlines are Innovation Ohio's. Know of something we missed? Email info@innovationohio.org.