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Here’s What Ohioans Should Know As Vivek  ‘Medicare Was a Mistake’ Ramaswamy Officially Files to Run for Governor

February 4, 2026

Columbus, Ohio – Yesterday afternoon, billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy officially filed to appear on the ballot in the 2026 gubernatorial election. Here’s what Ohioans need to know:

  • Ramaswamy called Ohioans lazy and mediocre in a bizarre social media rant that he still hasn’t apologized for more than a year later 
  • At a visit to a food bank in Dayton, Ramaswamy told hungry kids his solution to their problems was to learn to read faster. Months later in an Instagram video, he told struggling Ohioans that the solution to high costs is to just “earn more.”
  • He agreed to keynote a conference for a trade association that supports outsourcing American jobs, only to pull out at the last minute after receiving backlash from his own party. 
  • In an unearthed video, Ramaswamy called Medicare and Medicaid a “mistake” and refuses to answer questions about how he will lower skyrocketing health care costs for Ohioans.
  • Finally, Ramaswamy said last week in a Fox News interview that the higher costs Ohioans are struggling to afford are only “perceived.”  Last year, Ohio families paid $1,532 more in expenses than in 2024.  

“Vivek Ramaswamy is an out-of-touch billionaire who Ohioans know they can’t trust to put our state first,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “Whether it’s calling Ohioans lazy, moving his business to Texas, or saying that Medicare and Medicaid are ‘mistakes’ and rising costs are just in our imagination, Ramaswamy doesn’t understand the challenges Ohioans are facing, doesn’t care, and won’t lift a finger to lower costs for working families.” 

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