CINCINNATI — Cincinnati native Vivek Ramaswamy has officially kicked off his 2026 bid for Ohio governor.
The 39-year-old biotech businessman and St. Xavier High School graduate, who ran for president in 2024 and recently left President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), held a campaign announcement event Monday at CTL Aerospace Inc. in Cincinnati. He was scheduled to go to New Albany, which is near Columbus. He'll also hold more announcements in the Toledo and Cleveland areas, as well.
Ramaswamy sat down with WCPO 9 before his rally in Cincinnati. He told us he wants to grow Ohio into "that state of excellence" and the top state in the country.
"I want to lead the state in a way that lifts everybody up," he said.
Learn more about what Ramaswamy wants to achieve as Ohio's governor:
He told us he wanted to run for governor after realizing during his presidential campaign that many of the changes he hoped for in the country have to be driven by the states.
"President Trump is going to do his part at the national level, but I think we need a leader here at home who's going to revive our conviction in Ohio," he said.
Ramaswamy also said he welcomes all political parties, whether that be constitutional conservatives, independents, libertarians or others who want economic and educational excellence in Ohio.
As governor, Ramaswamy said he wants to improve Ohio's education system, but he said throwing money somewhere doesn't always fix the problem. He said he'd like to introduce a meritocracy, which he says America was built on, to the education system by implementing merit-based pay for every teacher, principal, superintendent and administrator in Ohio to create competition and recruit the "best of the best."
"Every parent has the right and deserves to send their kids to the best possible school for that kid, that's a very individual choice, ... but I also think we have to make sure our public schools are equipped to compete with the best of the alternatives," Ramaswamy said.
He said also small reforms like getting cell phones out of classrooms and bringing back physical education at a young age, such as the presidential fitness test, will improve the education system.
Ramaswamy also told WCPO he wants more financial transparency for Ohioans to openly show where their money is being spent, hopefully leading to reforms to put more money in Ohioan's pockets — something that calls to Ramaswamy's time with DOGE.
"My vision for Ohio is to bring the American Dream to Ohio, and that is going to require taking a long hard look at the way our money is being spent at the state level all the way to the local and county level," he said. "And an easy and uncontroversial first step we're going to take is public transparency."
Ramaswamy also put an emphasis on making the Ohio River Valley an innovation and new business hotspot, whether that be for biotech, AI, aerospace, nuclear energy, bitcoin and more. He also told WCPO he wants to bring income tax down to zero to make Ohio a more appealing place for businesses.
Ramaswamy is vying for term-limited Gov. Mike DeWine's seat against other Republicans Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and Heather Hill, as well as former Ohio Health Director and Democrat Dr. Amy Action. Ohio hasn't had a Democratic governor since Ted Strickland from 2007-2011.
"I want to work with everyone in this state, even the ones who run against me," Ramaswamy said.
So far, Ramaswamy has garnered endorsements from Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Treasurer Robert Sprague.
