Ohio Governor's Race a Toss-Up as Ramaswamy Struggles

The Cook Political Report has shifted Ohio's race for governor from "leans Republican" to a toss-up this month, an unexpected turn in a state that has not elected a Democratic governor in two decades and that President Donald Trump carried by more than 11 points in 2024.

The Republican nominee, Vivek Ramaswamy, won Trump's endorsement in February 2025 — nearly two years before the election, to the surprise of much of Ohio's Republican establishment — and took 82% of the vote in the primary last May. But the biotech entrepreneur, who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2024 and briefly worked with Elon Musk on the "Department of Government Efficiency" before leaving weeks in, has struggled to connect with voters.

He drew criticism in December 2024 for a post on X arguing that "our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long," and that a culture "that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ" will not produce the best engineers. His Hindu faith has also become a flashpoint: at a Turning Point USA event, one student asked how he could represent a largely Christian state and another asked why he chose to "masquerade as a Christian." Ramaswamy described Hinduism and called himself an "ethical monotheist."

Ramaswamy, born in Cincinnati in 1985 to parents who immigrated from Kerala, faces Democrat Amy Acton, who led Ohio's Covid-19 response for several months in 2020.

Indian Americans are the largest immigrant group in Ohio, but their support is not assured. Pew Research Center found 68% identified as Democrats as of 2024; a smaller Carnegie Endowment poll released in February showed identification slipping from 52% in 2020 to 46% this year.

"I remember him coming here with his parents when he was a little child," said Ashwani Kumar, a priest at the Hindu Temple of Dayton since the early 1990s, who said he intends to vote for Ramaswamy.

Neil Patel, president of the Ohio chapter of the Americans4Hindus PAC, which endorsed Ramaswamy last November, put community support at "70% to 80%."

Others disagree. "Vivek, unfortunately, is out of touch from the struggles and concerns of the community," said Priya Tamilarasan, an attorney and Democrat near Columbus, who criticized his Fourth of July trip to Paris.