ICYMI: Suddes Calls Out Ramaswamy for Treating Ohio as a Flyover State as He Focuses on Future Presidential Campaign
September 16, 2026
Columbus, Ohio — In a column for the Dispatch, Thomas Suddes is calling out Vivek Ramaswamy for using Ohio as a convenient springboard for his self-serving ambitions as he sets his sights on another presidential campaign. As Suddes notes, Ramaswamy’s newfound interest in the Buckeye State comes after “moving his main enterprise… out of Ohio and into Texas.”
“Vivek Ramaswamy is busy flying over Ohio while on his way to Texas, Florida, Iowa, and New Hampshire,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “On the ground, working families are stretching every dollar to make ends meet in the middle of an affordability crisis. They’re ready for real change, not a shamelessly ambitious billionaire plane enthusiast who uses their state as a dress rehearsal for his presidential run.”
READ: Vivek Ramaswamy doesn’t really want to be Ohio governor. I know what he wants | Opinion
- Republicans have run the state Senate continuously since 1985. Except for two years, Republicans have run the Ohio House of Representatives continuously since January 1995. And since 1987, the Ohio Supreme Court has had a Republican majority.
- Vivek Ramaswamy isn’t so much obliged to campaign as he is required to explain why Ohio is (supposedly) adrift without sails or paddles thanks to 30 to 35 years of GOP rule at the Statehouse, with state senators and representatives elected from GOP-rigged districts.
- Meanwhile, Ramaswamy has signaled his confidence in Ohio by moving his main enterprise, Strive Inc., a big player in Bitcoin markets, out of Ohio and into Texas.
- Looming over the calendar is the undisputed fact that Ramaswamy would like to move into (what’s left of) the White House after Donald Trump finishes wrecking the place.
- Do the math: The Ohio governor’s inauguration will be on Jan. 11, 2027.
- His or her first state operating budget must be passed within six months, by July 1. Then, six months after that, on Jan. 3, 2028, Iowa will stage its presidential caucuses, and on Jan. 11, 2028 — exactly one year after Ohio’s gubernatorial inauguration — New Hampshire will hold its presidential primary election.
- Meanwhile, Republican Vice President J.D. (James David) Vance, of Cincinnati, also wants to succeed Trump, which could split Ohio Republicans right down the middle. (Advantage: Vance.)
- If Ramaswamy becomes governor, then seeks the presidency less than a year after gaining Ohio’s “supreme executive power,” who’ll be minding the Statehouse store while Ramaswamy trudges through New Hampshire’s snow? Faceless aides and grasping lobbies.
- That is, the question becomes who’d really run Ohio come January: A Ramaswamy-for-president campaign doing business as the state of Ohio, or an Amy Acton administration anchored not to her future but to Ohio’s?
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