DOGE co-leader Ramaswamy planning 2026 run for governor in Ohio: sources
Vivek Ramaswamy, the multi-millionaire biotech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate, plans to launch a bid for Ohio governor, multiple sources confirm to Fox News Digital.
The sources add that Ramaswamy, who along with Elon Musk is co-leader of President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, is expected to make an announcement on a gubernatorial run “shortly.”
“Vivek’s base plan remains [the] same: to get accomplishments at DOGE and then announce a run for governor shortly,” said 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 the campaign rally at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, 2024 in New York City. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Current Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is term-limited and cannot seek re-election in 2026.
DeWine on Friday announced that Lt. Gov. Jon Husted would fill the U.S. Senate seat held by former Sen. JD Vance until earlier this month, when the vice president-elect stepped down ahead of Monday’s inauguration.
MUSK AND RAMASWAMY IGNITE MAGA WAR OVER SKILLED WORKER IMIMGRATION
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 U.S. Senate seat, held until earlier this month by Vice President-elect JD Vance, on Friday, Jan. 17, 2024. (Reuters)
The now-39-year-old Ramaswamy, who launched his presidential campaign in February 2023, saw his stock rise as he went from a long-shot to a 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 in our century.”
Vivek Ramaswamy, right, endorses former President Donald Trump during a campaign event at the Atkinson Resort and Country Club in Atkinson, New Hampshire, on Jan. 16, 2024. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
He dropped his White House bid a year ago after a distant finish in the Iowa caucuses. Ramaswamy quickly endorsed Trump and became a top surrogate on the campaign trail.
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Ramaswamy, an Ohio native, was named along with Musk, the world’s richest person, to lead DOGE, in an announcement in November by Trump.
Ohio, which was once a top general election battleground, has shifted red over the past decade as Republicans have dominated statewide elections.
