(Bloomberg) — Vivek Ramaswamy, the former presidential candidate and biotech entrepreneur partnering with Elon Musk on a project to slash the size of the federal government, plans to announce a 2026 campaign for Ohio governor, according to a campaign operative familiar with his thinking.
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Ramaswamy’s future came into clearer focus on Friday after Ohio Governor Mike DeWine bypassed him and chose his lieutenant governor, Jon Husted, to replace Vice President-elect JD Vance in the US Senate.
But the Ohio campaign operative said Ramaswamy’s plan was always to help with a sweeping federal cost-cutting initiative under President Donald Trump to build a resume for governor.
Husted had been preparing a run for Ohio governor in 2026 to replace the term-limited DeWine, and his appointment to the Senate removes a potential clash with Ramaswamy for the GOP nomination.
Ramaswamy will announce his campaign shortly, the person said.
The 39-year-old Cincinnati native challenged Trump for the GOP nomination for president, but dropped out and endorsed him after a fourth-place showing in the Iowa caucuses.
Trump then tapped Ramaswamy and Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla Inc. and SpaceX, to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency with ambitions plans to cut as much as $2 trillion from the federal budget. DOGE, as Musk calls it, is not a department and it’s not clear whether it will even be part of the government.
Ramaswamy worked on biotech ventures before starting a fund called Strive Asset Management LLC that he marketed as an “anti-woke” investment vehicle. His 2021 book, Woke Inc., made him a rising star in conservative circles and outlined the “unapologetically American nationalist” philosophy that shaped his 2024 presidential campaign.
Ramaswamy gained attention for his outspoken primary debate performances and became a fervent surrogate for Trump. He drew praise from the former and future president as “smart” and someone who could take charge of a bureaucracy and “do a better job than anybody you can think of.”
–With assistance from Mark Niquette.
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