Ramaswamy launches Ohio's governor after passing on Doge

(Bloomberg) -Vivek Ramaswamy, a rich biotech entrepreneur who was tapped to participate in the government efficiency effort under the leadership of billionaire Elon Musk, announced on Monday that he is running for the Governor of Ohio.

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

President Donald Trump 'revives our conviction in America. We need a leader here at home who will bring new life to Ohio, “RamasWamy said at the first stop of an announcement tour in his hometown Cincinnati.

The 39-year-old resident of Ohio wants to be a co-republican-replacement in the Gubernatorial competition of 2026. RamasWamy has never held a choice subject, but has received attention during his failed campaign before 2024 for the Republican Presidential nomination won by Trump.

Trump touched him to lead a new Ministry 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 richest person in the world, who has deposited his money in the Trump campaign to become his most productive donor.

Ramaswamy, however, said that he decided not to become a member of Doge, and that the federal laws of the officials would have excluded him to go to the office. He added that instead he wanted to make that approach to reduce government spending and regulations in states such as Ohio.

“When in doubt, push it to the United States,” Ramaswamy said at the beginning of February in a Freewheeling X Spaces session with Musk.

In his announcement speech in Cincinnati, Ramaswamy said that his leadership would inspire Ohio to be 'the top state in the country, where we embrace capitalism and meritocracy'. He promised to reform public education with merit -based reward for teachers and managers and, just like Trump at the federal level, to lower at least 10 state regulations for each new one.

In an interview with Bloomberg News last September, Ramaswamy said he would transform his home in the next low tax Florida or Texas.

“If other states have dropped it out and have succeeded in getting a flourishing of economic growth as a result, Ohio can,” he said.

The gubernatorial bid follows a two -year political odyssey in which Ramaswamy came up of a relatively obscure biotech director and conservative author at the forefront of Trump's “Make America Great Again” movement.

He was a prominent crusader against 'awake' investments based on environmental, social and management principles, with the help of that platform to launch the Longshot offer on the Republican nomination. He received attention to his outspoken and combative debate performance before stopping the race and threw his support behind Trump after a weak show in the Iowa Caucus. He would earn Trump's praise as a fiery surrogate on the campaign track.

In his offer on the Governor's mansion, he enters a Republican primary field in that attorney general Dave Yost in Ohio and could possibly expand. Former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel, who recently called Dewine Lieutenant -Governor, has not excluded a point.

Treasurer Robert Sprague in Ohio, however, chose not to run against Ramaswamy, and Amy Acton, who served in the Dewine cabinet as a health director of the State during the Pandemie, runs like a democrat. Yet the state has gone to the right since 2016 and it has been more than a decade since a Democrat won the mansion of the governor.

Ramaswamy starts with the primary race as the favorite at the chance thanks to his name identification and personal wealth, said Mark Weaver, an experienced Republican strategist in Ohio. The focus on national issues for the past two years RamasWamy in Ohio should not hurt, he said.

“Being on a national stage, if it is Trump's national stage, every candidate will help win a Republican Primary in Ohio,” said Weaver.

Republican political consultants who helped to choose Nu Vice President JD Vance in the US Senate in Ohio are involved in RamasWamy's offer on the Governor. They include Jai Chabria, who was the main strategist for the Vance campaign and will be a general consultant for Ramaswamy, and Andy Surabian, a senior adviser to Donald Trump Jr., who will supervise a political organization from outside.

Ramaswamy had taken himself out of consideration for the appointment to replace Vance in the Senate despite the encouragement of Trump. Instead, Dewine appointed the then Lieutenant governor Jon Husted, who had been committed to running for the Governor in 2026 The path for Ramaswamy was released.

The ambitions of Ramaswamy have shifted so strongly in the last two years – since he is first looking for the presidency, he has been a hopeful cabinet, tapped for Doge, seen as a potential appointment of the Senate and is now a candidate for Governor – keep that musk ticks.

At the end of their discussion about X rooms, Musk seemed to be unsure of what step Ramaswamy would take afterwards, referring to him as “maybe one-day senator Ramaswamy-or Governor Ramaswamy?”

“Yes, that's a bit the direction we are going,” RamasWamy replied.

(Updates with details about RamasWamy's announcement, from the first paragraph.)

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