Vivek Ramaswamymultimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate plans to launch a bid for governor of Ohio, multiple sources have confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Sources add that Ramaswamy, who co-hosts with Elon Musk President-elect Donald Trump The Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) Initiative is expected to announce the gubernatorial pick “soon.”
“Vivek’s basic plan remains [the] same: make DOGE achievements and then announce a run for governor soon,” an Ohio operative familiar with Ramaswamy’s thinking who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely told Fox News on Friday.
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Vivek Ramaswamy speaks before former President Donald Trump takes the stage at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden on October 27, 2024 in New York. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Ohio’s current Republican governor. Mike DeWine his mandate is limited and he cannot seek re-election in 2026.
DeWine announced Friday that Lt. Gov. Jon Husted will fill the U.S. Senate seat he is holding former Senator JD Vance until earlier this month, when the newly elected vice president stepped down ahead of Monday’s inauguration.
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Before the Senate announcement, Husted had long planned to run for governor in 2026 to succeed DeWine.
Gov. Mike DeWine announced that Lt. Gov. Jon Husted will fill the vacant US Senate seat, held until earlier this month by Vice President-elect JD Vance, on Friday, January 17, 2024. (Reuters)
The now 39-year-old Ramaswamy, who launched his presidential campaign in February 2023, has seen his stock rise as he has gone from long-shot contender to contender for the Republican nomination.
Ramaswamy campaigned on what he called an “America First 2.0” agenda and was one of Trump’s biggest supporters in the field of rivals, calling Trump “the most successful president of our century.”
Vivek Ramaswamy, right, supports former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally at the Atkinson Resort and Country Club in Atkinson, New Hampshire on January 16, 2024. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
He dropped his bid for the White House a year ago after a distant finish in the Iowa caucuses. Ramaswamy quickly endorsed Trump and became a major surrogate in the campaign.
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Ramaswamy, an a native of Ohio, he was named along with Musk, the world’s richest person, to head DOGE in an announcement made by Trump in November.
Ohio, once a major general election battleground, has turned red in the past decade as Republicans have dominated statewide elections.
