Poll shows entrepreneur on top in Ohio gubernatorial race match-up
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Surprising new data was just released regarding the open Ohio Governor’s race, thus giving more credibility to Vivek Ramaswamy’s proposed campaign.Â
A late January Fabrizio Lee & Associates survey of the Ohio Republican electorate sees businessman and former presidential candidate Ramaswamy jumping out to a huge Republican primary lead.Â
Mr. Ramaswamy just resigned from President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he was serving as co-chair with Elon Musk, in order to return to Ohio with the reported intent of embarking on a gubernatorial campaign.
In the race for what will be an open Governor’s position, Mr. Ramaswamy tops Attorney General Dave Yost and state Treasurer Robert Sprague by a 52-18-2% margin, respectively, according to the Fabrizio Lee results.Â
The Governor’s race has been at the heart of the Ohio political spectrum and figured prominently in the selection of a US Senator to replace Vice President JD Vance.Â
Governor Mike DeWine chose Lt. Gov. Jon Husted (R) for the Senate seat, though it apparently took some convincing before he accepted the position. Mr. Husted had been planning for years to run for Governor when Mr. DeWine’s final term comes to an end. Therefore, the 2026 election looked to begin with a Republican primary battle between Messrs. Husted and Yost, which was expected to be hard fought and potentially divisive.
The open Senate seat drastically changed the picture. With Sen. Husted having to run to fill the balance of the current term in 2026, and then for a full term in 2028, he is out of the Governor’s race. This gave AG Yost and State Treasurer Robert Sprague the opportunity of battling in the GOP primary for the right to succeed Gov. DeWine as the party nominee.
The Ramaswamy potential entry changes the political outlook yet again, especially with this new data posting him to a very large and surprising lead. Independently wealthy, Ramaswamy will have as much money as he needs to run a strong campaign. Therefore, we can expect an intense GOP primary battle.
At this point, the only Democrat to so far announce her gubernatorial candidacy is former Ohio Health Department director and physician Amy Acton.Â
It is likely others will soon follow. Those Democrats mentioned as potential statewide contenders are the mayors of Ohio’s three largest cities: Andy Ginther in Columbus, Cleveland’s Justin Bibb, and Cincinnati chief executive Aftab Pureval. State Supreme Court Justice and ex-Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, and ex-Congressman and 2022 US Senate candidate Tim Ryan are also frequently mentioned as possible gubernatorial candidates.
Though Ohio is voting more Republican in recent elections – President Trump carried the state three times with an average win margin of 9.1% and Ohio has now elected two Republican US Senators, for example – the Democrats are still expected to make a maximum effort to convert this office in 2026.
The Senate race will obviously also factor in the statewide political picture. The major question surrounds the status of former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) who was defeated for re-election in November. While he has been more closely associated with running again for the Senate since there will now be a special election to fill the balance of the Husted term, there is also some speculation that he could run for Governor.
Senator Brown had always been viewed as someone who could attract Republican votes even though he is unabashedly liberal. That aura was certainly punctured when he lost to now-Senator Bernie Moreno in November by just over 3.6 percentage points after spending $103 million just through his individual campaign committee. Despite his loss, it is clear that Mr. Brown would be the Democrats’ strongest candidate either for the Senate or Governor.
Ohio will again be a major political battleground, and we can expect to see a great deal of activity coming from the Buckeye State throughout the 2026 election cycle.
Jim Ellis is a 35-year veteran of politics at the state and national levels. He has served ss executive director for two national political action committees, as well as a consultant to the three national Republican Party organizations in DC, the National Federation of Independent Business, and various national conservative groups.
Born and raised in Sacramento, California, he earned a B. A. in Political Science from the University of California at Davis in 1979. Jim raised his daughter, Jacqueline, alone after his wife died following a tragic car accident. He helped establish the Joan Ellis Victims Assistance Network in Rochester, NH. Jim also is a member of the Northern Virginia Football Officials Association, which officiates high school games throughout the region.
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