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Columbus, Ohio-  Vivek Ramaswamy called himself the “first and most vocal proponent of releasing the Epstein list.” But ahead of his run for governor, he went silent, dodged questions from reporters, and bizarrely claimed to be only focusing on “state issues” while hitting the campaign trail in New Jersey this past week.  

Ohioans deserve a governor who will tell them the truth, but Ramaswamy continues making excuses while campaigning across the country and pretending to focus on Ohioans.

Ramaswamy previously called to release the Epstein files, only to go silent ahead of his gubernatorial run.

• WXVU: Two years ago is not a long time, but Vivek Ramaswamy — now the apparent GOP nominee for Ohio governor — doesn’t seem to remember what he was saying about Jeffrey Epstein in 2023.

1. Ramaswamy was beating the drum for releasing the Epstein files, saying at one point that “Jeffrey Epstein didn’t act alone.”

• But since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January and Ramaswamy launched his campaign for governor — with Trump’s endorsement — there’s not been a peep out of Ramaswamy on the matter.

When facing questions from reporters, Ramaswamy ran away instead.

• Politico: “Ramaswamy, who once hailed himself as “the first and most vocal proponent of releasing ALL Epstein related documents” because, he said, the “people deserve to know the TRUTH,” caught some strays for not speaking about the matter as much on the campaign trail.”

• NBC4: “Candidates promised to talk to reporters, but Ramaswamy instead made a quick exit.”

• 10TV: “Ramaswamy did not speak with reporters after the event.”

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Columbus Dispatch: “The company recently reached out to […] Sen. Husted’s office [who] told The Dispatch that Husted had passed along Tosoh’s concerns to the administration”

Columbus, Ohio — When a Grove City manufacturing company told Senator Husted that the tariffs he supports are costing it millions of dollars in business, Husted’s only response was that he “passed along” the concern to the administration, according to new reporting from Columbus Dispatch. 

This pathetic response comes as the Husted-supported tariffs are hammering Ohio soybean farmers, while the taxpayer-funded bailout to Argentina is set to double to $40 billion, even as its soybean industry undercuts American farmers. 

See for yourself: 

Columbus Dispatch: Trump tariffs cost Grove City manufacturing company Tosoh SMD, Inc. millions this year

• A Grove City manufacturing company has lost million of dollars to tariffs imposed by President Trump this year, cutting into the company’s bottom line and causing it to take cost-saving measures, an executive recently told The Dispatch

• Tosoh SMD Inc., which employs 221 people at its manufacturing plant in Grove City, produces components that are crucial for semiconductor and solar panel manufacturing along with powdered metals. Their parts go off to big names in the tech world like Samsung, Texas Instruments and Intel.

• But while Intel has had significant attention from Ohio and the federal government, including by the Trump administration buying a 10% stake in the company in August, Tosoh has been left to navigate the changing landscape of tech manufacturing and tariffs mostly on its own.

• In just half a year, Tosoh has lost over $4 million to tariffs, or around 5% of its annual revenue, according to Joe Buckfeller, the president and chief operating officer of Tosoh SMD.

• “I don’t really think what next year is gonna bring. It’s gonna put us in a hole,” he said.

• The company gets its aluminum from Japan and France, incurring a 50% tariff. Its copper comes from China, which may be facing tariffs as high as 100% starting on Nov. 1.

• It could leave the company at a disadvantage. Its overseas competitors don’t have to weather U.S. tariffs for their materials, while Tosoh’s customers can import replacements for the company’s products at lower tariff rates.

• “This disparity undermines our ability to compete and threatens our position in the global semiconductor supply chain,” Tosoh’s management wrote in a Sept. 11 letter to Grove City Mayor Ike Stage.

• And relief, so far, is nowhere in sight. Tosoh’s customers are unwilling to pay more, so the company has to eat the tariff costs. And there are no American companies that make the high-purity aluminum Tosoh needs, so it has no choice but to buy overseas, according to Buckfeller.

• Unlike in Trump’s first term, there is no formal tariff exemption process for companies like Tosoh to use. Instead, the company recently reached out to Ohio’s U.S. House delegation, Sens. Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted, members of the Ohio General Assembly and Grove City Mayor Ike Stage in an effort to find a solution to their tariff woes.

• […] A spokesperson from Sen. Husted’s office told The Dispatch that Husted had “passed along” Tosoh’s concerns to the administration.

Washington Post: Bessent says bailout for Argentina will double to boost U.S. influence in region

• The Trump administration is working to arrange private-sector financing for Argentina that would double the total U.S. financial lifeline for the embattled South American nation, part of a broader effort to swing the region to the right politically, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday.

• The U.S. government authorized an extraordinary $20 billion currency swap this month — essentially a loan — to prop up the sagging Argentine peso, which has fallen more than 24 percent against the dollar this year. Bessent said Wednesday that the administration was marshaling an additional $20 billion from banks and sovereign wealth funds to help Argentina make its foreign debt payments.

• But keeping the peso at an unnaturally high level has hurt exports and widened the trade deficit, leaving Argentina short of the dollars needed to service its foreign debt.

• Economists have questioned the Trump administration’s decision to extend financial aid to a country with a checkered repayment history. Argentina has defaulted or restructured its sovereign debt five times.

• The bailout also has been controversial among some of Trump’s supporters, especially in rural areas. Soybean farmers, in particular, are irked over Argentina’s efforts to replace them as a supplier to China, the world’s largest importer of the row crop.

• Milei’s government in September suspended a tax on exports, which made Argentine soybeans more attractive to Chinese buyers. That move left American farmers grumbling over lost sales, concerns that Trump hopes to assuage with a multibillion farm aid program.

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Columbus, Ohio-  After Governor DeWine announced the members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission, officially kicking off the second phrase in Ohio’s redistricting process, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde released the following statement:  

“After repeatedly and purposefully delaying, we’re finally on to the second stage of the redistricting process, and Republicans still haven’t shown voters a proposed map. Ohioans want transparency from their state government, but it’s on Republicans to show voters this isn’t just another round of sham hearings.

Voters from all corners of the state want fair, constitutional maps that actually represent how Ohioans vote. The Commission has the opportunity to let all Ohioans make their voices heard and I’m urging the committee to adopt fair, constitutional maps.”

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Columbus, Ohio- Over half a million Ohioans could soon see their healthcare premiums get more expensive or risk losing coverage entirely if Republicans allow tax credits that help families afford coverage to expire. Republicans are shutting down the government instead of lowering costs for Ohioans.

READ: Ohioans under Obamacare to see health costs spike or lose coverage if tax credits expire

• Hundreds of thousands of Ohioans who buy health insurance in the Affordable Care Act marketplace will see their premium costs spike dramatically or be uninsured altogether if tax credits from the federal government expire.

• These “enhanced premium tax credits”, or subsidies, are at the center of the nearly two-week government shutdown. They currently help over 24 million people, among them 583,000 Ohioans, afford health insurance that isn’t connected to an employer, depending on their income, that they purchase through the ACA marketplace.

• But those subsidies are set to expire at the end of 2025, with no apparent plan to extend them. It’s a major sticking point for Democrats who are railing against Republican cost-cutting efforts to health care.

• If the enhanced premium tax credits expire, a KFF Health News analysis found that enrollees will see their premiums more than double in 2026.

• In Ohio, that could look like a $2,092 increase per year for a family of four making $126,000 in Franklin County, according to KFF Health News’ calculation tool. For a 60-year-old couple in Delaware County making $75,000, there could be a $1,943 increase per year.

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Columbus, Ohio- This past Saturday, a sold out energized crowd of Ohio Democrats from across the state gathered in Columbus for the 2025 Ohio Rising dinner. Speakers included Senator Sherrod Brown, Dr. Amy Acton, Congressman Greg Landsman, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde and a video message from Senator Alex Padilla. 

“Ohioans are working hard, paying too much, and getting too little in return. Republicans in Columbus and Washington aren’t fixing it — they’re making it worse. The fight to take our country back starts right here,” said Chair Kathleen Clyde.

“This is our time, Democrats. Ohio is rising,” continued Chair Clyde.

Over 6000 local elections are on the ballot this November and next year Ohio Democrats will have the most opportunities to win statewide races in two decades. While Republicans redraw congressional districts to avoid answering for their unpopular agenda, Democrats are getting to work building infrastructure, organizing communities, and laying the groundwork to win at all levels of government. 

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