Indian-origin politician Vivek Ramaswamy will be the Republican party’s nominee for the post of Ohio Governor after decisively winning a party primary election on Tuesday. Ramaswamy – a 40-year old former entrepreneur who shot to fame as a candidate in the 2024 US Presidential election – will now face off against Democrat Amy Acton in November’s general election. Should Ramaswamy win in November, he will be only the third Indian-American to serve as governor of a US state.
Ramaswamy thanked US President Donald Trump for his endorsement in his victory speech.
“I want to say thank you to our U.S. President – President Trump – for his endorsement in this campaign since day one,” Ramaswamy said. Trump’s endorsement, along with Ramaswamy’s massive personal fortune, allowed him to ease to victory by clearing the field of potential Republican rivals. In a sign of the Trump administration’s support, US Vice President JD Vance flew to Ohio this week to cast a vote in the Republican primary in Ramaswamy’s favour.
Ramaswamy also acknowledged his own journey as the son of two Indian immigrants.
“On any other country on planet Earth, I would not be standing here tonight. My parents came halfway around the world to Cincinnati, Ohio, half a century ago, with nothing to their name..My dad worked for a five-figure salary for most of his career at the GE plant right off I-75 in Evendale. My mom worked at the VA, taking care of nursing home patients, as well. And now, after having founded, thankfully, successful businesses, in a position to call myself the Republican nominee for governor in the very state where I was born and raised, that is the American Dream that makes American exceptionalism possible,” Ramaswamy told a crowd of his supporters on Wednesday.
Before entering politics, Ramaswamy made a fortune as an investor and by founding pharmaceutical company Roivant Sciences in 2014. He stepped down as CEO in 2021 and left the company’s board in 2023 before launching his presidential campaign that same year. Running as a Republican in a primary election that Donald Trump seemed certain to win, Ramaswamy’s slick social media messaging and his articulate packing of conservative talking points helped him surge in the polls. Despite never having held political office before, Ramaswamy polled at levels comparable to former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Ramaswamy eventually dropped out of the race in January 2024 after a middling showing in the primary elections and endorsed Donald Trump, who praised Ramaswamy’s campaign as “incredible”.
Ramaswamy’s charmed political life has not been without setbacks. After Donald Trump won the 2024 election, he was appointed to co-chair the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside fellow billionaire Elon Musk. Soon after, Ramaswamy made a controversial speech in which he implied that American culture had prioritized “mediocrity over excellence”, which explained by tech companies were hiring foreign born or first generation Americans over “native” Americans. The speech sparked a serious political backlash from Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) base and within weeks, Ramaswamy announced he would be leaving the Trump administration.
Soon after, he launched his bid to be governor of Ohio and was quickly endorsed by President Trump. Despite some competition from Republican rivals, Ramaswamy’s eventual victory in the primary election was considered highly likely. He will now aim to win the general election in November, which could see him become only the third Indian-American governor of a US state after Bobby Jindal in Louisiana and Nikki Haley in South Carolina.
