(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said Wednesday that he may consider a 2026 gubernatorial bid in his home state of Ohio to replace out-going RINO Gov. Mike DeWine, should another opportunity not present itself sooner.
When Fox News’s Laura Ingraham pressed Ramaswamy about a potential run for Ohio governor, the outspoken entrepreneur said people in the state were “pleading” with him to run for the office.
Ramaswamy—once considered to be a crowd favorite in GOP nominee Donald Trump’s running-mate sweepstakes before the selection of his former Harvard Law friend JD Vance—has since been touted as a likely Cabinet pick in a future Trump administration, should the former president be reelected, and has also been floated as an option to replace Vance in the U.S. Senate.
“I’m gonna make some decisions shortly after the election,” Ramaswamy said.
“But [what] I will say is, we see some of the events, when I visited Springfield, people in the state pleading with me to do it—I have to take that pretty seriously,” he added. “There’s a lot of possibilities for the future though.”
DeWine, who coasted to reelection in 2022, has clashed with Trump—as well as his own state legislature—on a number of core conservative issues.
Most recently, he undermined the GOP criticism surrounding an influx of about 15,000 Haitian refugees, which has increased the population of the town of Springfield by an estimated 25% and created bedlam for the local community.
The Biden–Harris administration enacted a “streamlined” process in January 2023 for Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans to enter the U.S. expeditiously, granting them special residential status under its open-border asylum policies.
But the impacted communities have been given insufficient resources—if any—to accomodate the added burden to health care, education, law enforcement, social services and other essential government functions.
Springfield exploded in the political Zeitgeist after Trump bluntly conveyed one of the more sensational concerns of city residents during the Sept. 10 ABC News debate.
Trump: Illegal aliens are eating dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio. pic.twitter.com/As1hgA0P6G
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) September 11, 2024
“They’re eating the dogs, people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” Trump said.
The line quickly turned into a meme, embraced by both the Right and Left, with some using the soundbyte as their creative muse to compose viral hit songs.
The Kiffness – Eating the Cats – Live in Paris
They can try to make fun, but this song is already an international hit. pic.twitter.com/S0gw2qg4U2
— 1776 (@TheWakeninq) September 29, 2024
Ramaswamy, who grew up in the Buckeye State, visited the city of Springfield on Sept. 19 for a town hall addressing the community’s growing concerns.
He first floated a potential gubernatorial bid Tuesday when he told the PBD Podcast Ohioans were “begging” him to run.
BREAKING: Vivek just said he is now considering running for Governor of Ohio after a poll showed him winning the race by a landslide
"This is the number one thing that people across the state will come literally plead with me to do… And so, would I consider it? Yes, I would… pic.twitter.com/fbIRvNHADL
— George (@BehizyTweets) October 1, 2024
“If you asked me six months ago, I would have said no,” Ramaswamy said. “I mean, it wasn’t even in my headspace.”
Ramaswamy told the PBD Podcast that he would “prefer to have clarity” before he decides what direction to take his political career.
However, he said it was hard to ignore the public pressure urging him to go in one direction or another.
“I will tell you that it does have an impact on me,” Ramaswamy said.
“I would love to tell you that I’m not affected by what other people say,” he continued. “It does have an impact on me.”
Ramaswamy told Ingraham that his primary motivation was to maximize his personal efficacy in whatever role he wound up choosing.
“What I wanna do is have the biggest possible impact on the country possible,” he said.
“We’re working within a short time to save this country,” he added. “Donald Trump’s gonna do his part from the top, but it’s gonna be up to us to each play our own roles.”
Nonetheless, he noted that with so much riding on the month ahead, it was too early to begin making plans for what the future held.
“We’re gonna make decisions, for me, shortly after—hopefully not a close election, but I still see the possibility of a landslide-style election that unites this country,” Ramaswamy said. “Let’s achieve that in the next 35 days and we’ll count our eggs after that.”
Headline USA reached out to Vivek Ramaswamy and has yet to receive a response.
Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer previously published by the Daily Caller and The Federalist. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.
