Trump-backed Vivek Ramaswamy wins Republican nomination for Ohio governor

Vivek Ramaswamy won the Republican primary for Ohio governor with 87% of votes, backed by Donald Trump, and will face Democrat Amy Acton in November amid campaign controversies and strong financial backing

New York: Vivek Ramaswamy, the billionaire entrepreneur backed by President Donald Trump has won the Republican Party primary to become its candidate for Ohio governor, defeating an opponent who tormented him with racist propaganda.

Winning 87 per cent of the votes, Ramaswamy dealt a decisive defeat to Casey Putsch, and in the November general election, will face Democrat Amy Acton, who ran unopposed for her party’s nomination.

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Ramaswamy initially ran against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, but withdrew and backed Trump. Trump appointed him as the co-head with Elon Musk of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to streamline government operations and cut expenses.

He had a run of only about a month in that controversial role, with personality clashes with Musk, the abrasive entrepreneur who founded the electric car manufacturer Tesla and the SpaceX aerospace company, and owns the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

Ramaswamy then received Trump’s blessings to run for Ohio governor. If Ramaswamy is elected in November, he will be the third Indian American to hold the office after fellow Republicans Bobby Jindal in Louisiana and Nikki Haley in South Carolina. He would be the first Hindu to become governor. (Jindal is a Catholic convert, while Haley is a Christian because of her marriage, but also keeps her Sikh traditions.)

Ohio has not had a Democrat governor in 35 years, both its senators are Republicans, and Trump carried it with a 12 per cent lead in 2024, giving Ramaswamy an edge in November. As a billionaire, he has vast financial resources of his own to throw into the race. However, he will face headwinds from the soaring prices due to the Iran War and Trump’s falling popularity in opinion polls.

During the campaign, racist posts and banter by Putsch, an auto racing team owner, raised concerns. In a post on X, he said, “Hey Vivek, you want to play Cowboys versus Indians”? before shooting a gun thrice. Then he added, “Don’t worry, it’s ‘feather’, not ‘dot’”. Those are derogatory terms used to differentiate between Native American (or American Indians), some of whom wore feather head dresses, and Indian Americans (the immigrants from India) who wear bindis.

Putsch also questioned Ramaswamy’s citizenship claiming falsely he shouldn’t qualify because his parents were immigrants. Ramaswamy’s father, Vadakanchery Ganapathy Ramaswamy, was an engineer with General Electric, and his mother is a psychiatrist.

Ramaswamy’s rival in November, Acton, is a doctor and a moderate Democrat who was appointed by Republican Governor Mike DeWine as the state health director as COVID was emerging as a threat.

The 40-year-old Ramaswamy has a law degree from Yale University, but went on to build a career as an entrepreneur. After working for a hedge fund, he founded a biotechnology company, Roivant Sciences, and later an asset management company, Strive.

According to Forbes, which keeps tallies of the ultra-rich, his wealth is now estimated at $2.5 billion.