Vivek Ramaswamy Wins Ohio GOP Gubernatorial Primary, Will Face Democrat Amy Acton

Vivek Ramaswamy, the biotech billionaire and former presidential candidate, dominated Ohio's Republican gubernatorial primary on May 5, 2026, defeating Casey Putsch by a margin of roughly 86% to 14% [1]. The landslide gives Ramaswamy an uncontested path to the November general election against Democrat Amy Acton, the former state health director who rose to prominence during Ohio's COVID-19 response.

But beneath the primary blowout, a more complex picture emerges. Polling consistently shows the general election within the margin of error, the Cook Political Report has shifted the race from "Likely Republican" to "Leans Republican," and GOP strategists privately worry that Ramaswamy's controversial proposals and outsider persona could suppress turnout among the suburban moderates who decide statewide races in Ohio [2][3].

The Primary: A Coronation With Asterisks

Ramaswamy's 86-14 victory over Putsch—a northwest Ohio car designer and YouTube personality with no political experience—was never in doubt [1]. Trump's "complete and total endorsement," delivered on Inauguration Day 2025, effectively cleared the serious Republican field [4]. The Ohio Republican Party followed with its own formal endorsement, despite outgoing Governor Mike DeWine's attempts to prevent the state party from picking favorites [5].

The third GOP candidate, Heather Hill, was removed from the ballot when her lieutenant governor running mate withdrew [6]. That left Ramaswamy facing only Putsch, whose campaign was notable primarily for its racial attacks on Ramaswamy's Indian heritage and Hindu faith—attacks that party leaders dismissed but that surfaced genuine ethnic animosity within a portion of the GOP base [7].

On the Democratic side, Acton ran unopposed after other candidates cleared the field. She selected former Ohio Democratic Party chairman David Pepper as her running mate [8].

The Money Race: Self-Funding vs. Grassroots

The financial disparity between the campaigns is stark.

Source: Ohio Capital Journal / NBC4

Data as of Apr 27, 2026CSV

Ramaswamy has raised approximately $50 million since launching his campaign in February 2025, with $25 million coming from his own pocket—83% of his 2026 fundraising [9]. A federal super PAC aligned with his candidacy, V-PAC, has separately raised $29.5 million, with Pennsylvania billionaire Jeff Yass contributing $20 million of that total [9]. The combined financial apparatus behind Ramaswamy's candidacy totals roughly $80 million.

His campaign claims grassroots credentials: 98% of individual contributions were $200 or less, with 392,347 donations from more than 120,000 unique donors at an average of $63 [9]. But the $25 million self-funding and the Yass-dominated super PAC complicate that narrative.

Acton has raised $10.4 million total—a record for a Democratic gubernatorial challenger in Ohio [10]. Her campaign reports more than 17,000 individual donors, with 90% of donations at $50 or less. Approximately 83% of her contributions have come from Ohio-based donors [10]. The contrast is deliberate: Acton's campaign frames its funding as evidence of authentic Ohio support versus Ramaswamy's reliance on personal wealth and a national donor network.

Polling: A Race Within the Margin of Error

Despite Ohio's deep-red lean—Trump carried the state by roughly 11 points in 2024—general election polls show a competitive race.

Source: Emerson College / BGSU Polling

Data as of Apr 30, 2026CSV

An Emerson College poll from December 2025 showed Acton leading 46-45%, a dramatic shift from August 2025, when Ramaswamy led 49-39% [11]. By April 2026, a Bowling Green State University survey found Ramaswamy ahead 48-47%, statistically tied [12].

The gender gap is pronounced: women favor Acton 56-37%, while men back Ramaswamy 55-35% [11]. Trump's approval in Ohio has slipped to 46% approve, 48% disapprove, and DeWine's approval sits at just 26% [11]. The top issue for voters is the economy at 44%, followed by threats to democracy at 13% and healthcare at 11% [11].

Prediction markets on Polymarket give Democrats a 52.5% implied probability of winning the race [12].

Acton's COVID Record: Asset and Liability

The central vulnerability in Acton's candidacy is her tenure as Ohio's health director from 2019 to 2020. She signed orders closing schools, shuttering businesses, restricting sporting events, and—most controversially—suspending in-person voting for the 2020 primary [13].

Republicans plan to make her pandemic record the defining issue. At GOP events, mention of Acton's name "elicits loud boos" [13]. One Republican Senate candidate framed the election as choosing between "freedom or Fauci...liberty or lockdowns" [13]. Ramaswamy has accused Acton of spreading "COVID ideology" and aired ads targeting lingering anger over the lockdowns [13].

Acton's defense is measured. Her campaign emphasizes she worked "to put public health over politics, save lives and keep Ohioans safe" [13]. She has told Democratic audiences: "I'm proud of Ohioans because together we flattened that curve, we saved a lot of lives" [13]. On the data: Ohio ranked 22nd among states in per capita death rate during the pandemic's first year, a middling outcome that both sides can spin [13].

A complicating factor for Ramaswamy: as CEO of Roivant Sciences during the pandemic, he advised Ohio's lieutenant governor on COVID-19 response and publicly supported vaccines and mask-wearing—positions he has since distanced himself from [13]. Governor DeWine himself has said of Acton's orders: "I told her to issue the health order. The decision was mine" [13].

Ramaswamy's Policy Platform: Ambition Meets Fiscal Reality

Ramaswamy's signature proposal is the complete elimination of Ohio's state income tax, which generates approximately $10 billion annually—nearly one-quarter of the state's operating revenue [14].

Independent analyses have identified severe fiscal challenges. Replacing that revenue through economic growth alone would require a roughly 34% increase in total state tax collections [14]. Cutting proportionally from schools would reduce K-12 state aid by approximately $2.4 billion [14]. Ohio's Medicaid program, which serves about 3 million residents, would face cuts exceeding the state-funded share of the program [14]. Critics point to Kansas's failed income tax elimination experiment, which produced revenue shortfalls, school funding cuts, credit downgrades, and eventual repeal [14].

Ohio Democrats have seized on these projections, calling the proposals "scam proposals" that would cause "significant hikes to taxes and major cuts to government services" [15].

Beyond tax policy, Ramaswamy has proposed consolidating Ohio's university system and raising the voting age to 25—ideas that critics say reveal an Ivy League-educated billionaire disconnected from average Ohioans [7]. His broader governing philosophy borrows from his DOGE tenure: "bringing some of the principles of efficiency and spending and deregulation to our state" [16].

Trump's Endorsement: Boost or Ceiling?

Trump's endorsement was decisive in the primary. But its general-election value is uncertain in a state where his own approval has dipped below 50% [11].

The Cook Political Report's shift from "Likely Republican" to "Leans Republican" reflects a broader judgment that Ramaswamy may underperform the Republican baseline [3]. DeWine won reelection in 2022 by 25 points, demonstrating that Ohio Republicans can attract independents and even some Democratic voters when running experienced, state-focused candidates [6]. Ramaswamy's national celebrity profile and culture-war branding represent a different electoral proposition.

GOP strategists worry less about Republican voters defecting to Acton than about depressed conservative turnout. State Senate President Rob McColley warned that "complacency" is "the most dangerous opponent we possibly have"—a tacit acknowledgment that some Republican voters may simply stay home [7].

The Structural Challenge for Democrats

Ohio has not elected a Democratic governor since Ted Strickland in 2006. The state's rightward drift has been steep: Obama carried Ohio twice, but Trump won it by 8 points in 2016 and 2020, then by 11 in 2024 [4].

For Acton to win, she would likely need to combine maximum Democratic turnout in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) and Franklin County (Columbus) with significant gains in the suburban collar counties—Delaware, Warren, Butler, and the Cleveland eastern suburbs—where college-educated voters have shown willingness to break from Trump-aligned candidates in specific races.

Her name recognition outside Franklin County remains a question mark. The Emerson poll's shift from a 10-point deficit to a 1-point race between August and December 2025 suggests her profile is growing, but 9% of voters remained undecided as of December [11].

The National Context

Source: FRED / Bureau of Labor Statistics

Data as of Mar 1, 2026CSV

The race unfolds against a national backdrop of rising economic anxiety. The unemployment rate stood at 4.3% in March 2026, up from 3.5% in mid-2023 [17]. Ohio voters rank the economy as their top concern by a wide margin [11]. Both candidates will compete to own that issue—Ramaswamy with tax cuts and deregulation, Acton with healthcare access and affordability.

The outcome will also carry national implications. A Democratic victory in Ohio—however unlikely—would signal a broader 2026 wave. Even a close loss by Acton could demonstrate the limits of the Trump-endorsed celebrity-outsider model at the state level and inform Republican candidate recruitment for 2028.

What to Watch

The general election will be shaped by several dynamics: whether Ramaswamy's $80 million financial advantage can define Acton before she defines herself; whether COVID remains salient six years after the lockdowns; whether Ramaswamy's income-tax proposal survives scrutiny on the campaign trail; and whether Ohio's suburban voters—particularly women—turn out at rates that match their polling preferences.

The Cook Political Report's current "Leans Republican" rating means the race is competitive but Ramaswamy remains favored. In a state Trump won by 11 points, any Democrat who comes within single digits is overperforming. Whether Acton can close the gap entirely will test both the durability of Ohio's red shift and the limits of personal wealth in state-level politics.