Vivek Ramaswamy

Vivek Ramaswamy

Republican Party

Candidate, Governor of Ohio

Elections and appointments

Next election

November 3, 2026

Education

Bachelor's

Harvard College

Law

Yale Law School

Personal

Profession

Entrepreneur

Contact

Personal website

Personal LinkedIn

Vivek Ramaswamy (Republican Party) is running for election for Governor of Ohio. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.^[source]

Ramaswamy is an entrepreneur, political commentator, and author. On November 12, 2024, Donald Trump (R) announced Ramaswamy would lead the Department of Government Efficiency alongside Elon Musk. Ramaswamy withdrew from the position on January 20, 2025.

Ramaswamy ran in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. He declared his candidacy on February 21, 2023. Ramaswamy withdrew from the race on January 15, 2024. Click here to read more about his presidential campaign.

On January 20, 2025, the Washington Post and New York Times reported that Ramaswamy was planning to leave the Department of Government Efficiency and run for Governor of Ohio in 2026.

Ramaswamy became known in the area of environmental, social, and corporate governance for his 2021 book Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam. The book offered an argument against stakeholder theory of the corporation. Ramaswamy stated that he aimed to remove politics from business. Ramaswamy also authored op-eds in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, National Review, Newsweek, and Harvard Business Review on the topic.

Ramaswamy created an asset management fund in 2022 that he said would seek to "restore the voice of the everyday citizen in the economy by advancing a simple worldview in corporate American board rooms: Pursue excellence in your products and services to your customers over any other agenda, including social and political agendas."

Biography

Ramaswamy was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Geetha and Ganapathy Ramaswamy, both immigrants from India. The Ramaswamys practiced the Hindu faith. Ramaswamy attended St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati. Following high school, he attended Harvard University, graduating summa cum laude with a degree in biology in 2007. While at Harvard, Ramaswamy co-founded Campus Venture Network with Travis May. In 2013, he graduated from Yale Law School.

Following law school, Ramaswamy was involved in several financial and biotech ventures. He worked at QVT Financial from 2007 through 2014, where he was a partner. In 2014, he founded Roivant Sciences, a biotech holding company. Next, Ramaswamy founded investment firm Strive Asset Management in 2022. As of June 2022, Ramaswamy was also on the boards of directors of the Philanthropy Roundtable, the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, and St. Xavier High School.

Ramaswamy is married to Aproova Ramaswampy (nee Tewari). The couple has two sons.

Career

Education

• Bachelor's degree, biology, Harvard College, 2007
• J.D., Yale Law School, 2013

Work

• 2022-present: Co-founder and executive chairman at Strive Assessment Management
• 2021: Author of Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam
• 2015-2021: Founder and CEO at Roivant Sciences
• 2007-2014: Partner at QVT Financial
• 2007-2009: Co-founder and president at Campus Venture Network

2024

Ramaswamy officially announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election on February 21, 2023. Ramaswamy withdrew from the race on January 15, 2024. Click the links below to read more about the 2024 presidential election:

• Vivek Ramaswamy presidential campaign, 2024
• Presidential candidates, 2024
• Democratic presidential nomination, 2024
• Republican presidential nomination, 2024

Elections

2026

See also: Ohio gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2026

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for Governor of Ohio

Amy Acton, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Dave Yost are running in the general election for Governor of Ohio on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Amy Acton (D)
		Vivek Ramaswamy (R)
		Dave Yost (R)

---

	There are no incumbents in this race.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Robert Sprague (R)

Endorsements

Ramaswamy received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.

• President Donald Trump (R)

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

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Stances

Views on ESG

See also: Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)

Ramaswamy has expressed views opposing environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investing in interviews, statements, op-eds, and books. He has argued that the social purpose of companies should be to produce goods and services that individuals and businesses want and generate profits through the sale of the desired products. Ramaswamy has said ESG distracts from that purpose and has become an avenue through which businesses promote political changes outside of traditional democratic political processes.

In a 2021 opinion piece published in the New York Post promoting his book Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam, Ramaswamy said the following:

“ I’m fed up with corporate America’s game of pretending to care about justice in order to make money. It is quietly wreaking havoc on American democracy. It demands that a small group of investors and CEOs determine what’s good for society, rather than our democracy at large. This new trend has created a major cultural shift in America. It’s not just ruining companies. It’s polarizing our politics. It’s dividing our country to a breaking point. Worst of all, it’s concentrating the power to determine American values in the hands of a small group of capitalists, rather than in the hands of the American citizenry at large, which is where the dialogue about social values belongs. That’s not America, but a distortion of it. ”

Ramaswamy has also argued against banks and asset management companies becoming used for political ends. In an excerpt from his book Capitalist Punishment: How Wall Street is Using Your Money to Create a Country You Didn’t Vote For, which was published as a New York Post opinion article in 2023, Ramaswamy said the following:

“ It’s no surprise that liberal politicians have been some of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies’ strongest proponents. ESG-friendly politicians often co-opt pension fund money for political ends. However, that’s not the only power they have. Elected officials can also wield influence through executive orders, agency directives, and letter writing to pave the way for ESG asset managers to access the back door of corporate America and sometimes even shove those managers through. ... Banks, like asset managers, are simply one more tool that politicians can manipulate to further political agendas that Congress would never enact. ”

Noteworthy events

Reported as possible 2024 Republican vice presidential nominee

See also: Vice presidential candidates, 2024

Media reports discussed Ramaswamy as a possible 2024 Republican vice presidential candidate. Former President Donald Trump (R) selected U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate on July 15, 2024, the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention.

In 2020, President Joe Biden (D) announced Vice President Kamala Harris (D) as his running mate six days before the start of the Democratic National Convention (DNC). In 2016, both Hillary Clinton (D) and Trump announced their running mates three days before the DNC and RNC, respectively.

See also

2026 Elections

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