COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Trump-endorsed biotech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy won the Ohio Republican Party’s gubernatorial endorsement on Friday, overcoming more experienced and potentially more popular rivals to land coveted institutional and monetary support nearly a year before the 2026 primary.
Ramaswamy, 39, former co-chair of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative, benefited from Trump’s backing and from an 11th-hour post on X by Donald Trump Jr., who urged members of the 66-member State Central Committee to back him.
The party’s governing board took the unusual step of holding both the debate and vote for Ramaswamy behind closed doors, as objections swirled from some corners of the party that taking sides in the race was unfair, premature or both.
Lara Trump, former co-chair of the Republican National Committee and daughter-in-law to the president, opened Friday’s meeting by phone. She stopped short of calling for a Ramaswamy endorsement, but reminded the 66-member committee that the GOP’s motto headed into 2026 is, “Unite, unite, unite!”
Friday’s march toward the early endorsement came even as Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel broke his silence late Thursday to say that he is also considering a bid for governor. Tressel is a championship-winning former Ohio State Buckeyes head football coach who could present a challenge for Ramaswamy. The filing deadline for the race is Feb. 4, 2026.
More immediately, the endorsement was a blow to the two declared gubernatorial candidates — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a fourth-term state officeholder, and Appalachian entrepreneur Heather Hill.
Dr. Amy Acton, the former state health director who helped lead Ohio through the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, is the only announced Democrat in the race.
Ahead of Friday’s vote, Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine called the near-year until the 2026 primary “a lifetime” in politics. He is prohibited from running again due to term limits and is believed to have picked Tressel for his potential as a moderate Republican successor.
Ramaswamy, an unsuccessful 2024 presidential candidate, staged a spirited campaign launch in February and Trump endorsed Ramaswamy the same day as “Young, Strong, and Smart!” He has been barnstorming the state ever since.
A native of Cincinnati, Ramaswamy had also shown interest in the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Vice President JD Vance before, but DeWine chose Lt. Gov. Jon Husted as Vance’s successor. In a separate vote Friday, the central committee also endorsed Husted as he seeks to retain the seat next year for the remainder of Vance’s unexpired term.
Rather than attend the party meeting, Yost had chosen to attend the funeral of a retired Hamilton County sheriff’s deputy struck and killed last week by the father of a teen who had been fatally shot by police a day earlier. He said in a letter to the Central Committee obtained by The Associated Press that it was a difficult decision.
“My favorite part of a trial was always the closing argument — the distillation of all the evidence, its meaning, and the application of reason and law,” he wrote. “I relish the battle. But I believe this is the right thing to do (regardless of whether it is politically wise) and have so chosen my course.”
Ramaswamy is trying to follow the paths of Vance and Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno — two newcomers to Ohio politics who won Senate seats with the help of Trump’s endorsement. Yost, a fourth-term state officeholder who launched his gubernatorial campaign in January, is testing that model. Traditionally, Ohio voters have tended to support candidates with government experience for state-level offices, while favoring business backgrounds in their presidential and Senate picks.
