Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at a campaign event in Cincinnati June 24, 2025 (Vivek Ramaswamy campaign)
Ramaswamy was interviewed the day after his campaign announced that he had raised nearly $10 million in a little over four months since he announced his gubernatorial candidacy in late February. Ramaswamy's campaign touted that the money raked in set a "record for the largest first-quarter fundraising total in state history."
"I think it says that we have unprecedented support in our state, and that is a beautiful thing to see this early in a Republican race," Ramswamy said. "And I think that that's a powerful signal of unity."
RAMASWAMY LAUNCHES BID FOR OHIO GOVERNOR
Ramaswamy, who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, noted he's the only major Republican candidate right now in the race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Mike DeWine.
"I'm running unopposed in a Republican primary in a state that is certainly leaning reliably red, and I'm proud to say that we have united, not just the Republicans in Ohio, but we are beginning to draw support from a wide range of nontraditional Republican backers, entrepreneurs, younger people," he added.
Vivek Ramaswamy endorses Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign event in Atkinson, N.H., Jan. 16, 2024. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)
Ramaswamy dropped his White House bid early last year after a distant fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses and quickly endorsed Trump, becoming a top surrogate on the campaign trail.
Trump, in the days after his November presidential election victory, named Elon Musk, the world's richest person, along with Ramaswamy, to steer the newly announced Department of Government Efficiency initiative, better known as DOGE.
But in January, as Trump was inaugurated, the new administration announced Ramaswamy was no longer serving at DOGE. Ramaswamy's exit cleared the way for Musk, Trump's top donor and, at the time, a key ally, to steer DOGE without having to share the limelight. Ramaswamy quickly moved toward launching a run for governor.
Elon Musk (left) and Vivek Ramaswamy (center) arrive on Capitol Hill Dec. 5, 2024, for meetings with members of Congress regarding the newly announced Department of Government Efficiency. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Ramaswamy was raised in Evendale, Ohio, in suburban Cincinnati by parents who emigrated from India. His father worked as an engineer at General Electric Aviation, and his mother was a geriatric psychiatrist. Ramaswamy and his family live in suburban Columbus.
The candidate noted that "one of my core areas of focus that I think is really resonating, is elevating the standards of educational achievement in our state."
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"The No. 1 issue that I see resonating across the board, in a non-partisan manner, is the recognition that we are in the middle of this educational achievement crisis," he added.
And Ramaswamy insisted that "anybody who's a parent, or even anybody who's a young person recently graduating from school, recognizes that this is going to be an issue that we have to turn around, to preserve our place, the leading country in the world, and that is the project that we are going to make Ohio ground zero for in the United States."
Fox News' Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast."
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