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Columbus, Ohio- In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Vivek Ramaswamy refused to rule out bringing so-called right-to-work laws to Ohio. Instead, Ramaswamy launched into the same meaningless word salad and left Ohioans more convinced than ever he wouldn’t protect their jobs, stand up for Ohio’s workers, or lower costs.

Right-to-work policies weaken organized labor unions and leave workers without the protections they rely on. While costs go up, workers end up getting paid less. Ohioans overwhelmingly rejected right-to-work at the polls, putting Ramaswamy at odds with voters on yet another issue.

“Vivek Ramaswamy’s refusal to rule out policies that would threaten Ohio’s good union jobs proves that, despite his desperate attempts to rebrand, he’s still the same billionaire who called our workers lazy, moved his business to Texas, and was scheduled to keynote a conference about outsourcing American jobs. Voters have already overwhelmingly rejected these policies, but Ramaswamy still wouldn’t. Ohio workers can’t trust Vivek Ramaswamy to protect their jobs or lower costs for their families,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer.

Watch Ramaswamy’s Non-Answer Here: 

Question: Ohio is not a right to work state […] Is that something you would push for or work for to try to get Ohio on board with that movement?

(Non) Answer: Look, I think there’s a composite effect because I’m not one of these people who will, you know, find one sort of solution to shoehorn everything into. Michigan became a right-to-work state, interestingly enough. But you don’t see businesses flocking to Michigan over Ohio because it’s a composite of factors, right? So the way I look at it, what’s important here in terms of moving the needle, and as a business leader, I believe prioritization matters. And I think you got to focus on what you’re going to get done versus what you’re not going to get done.

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Ramaswamy in “fundamental agreement” with Right to Life Action Coalition of Ohio, who backs ‘restricting abortion in all cases, but also opposes all forms of contraception’

Columbus, Ohio- New reporting from NBC News revealed Vivek Ramaswamy is closely allying with Right to Life Action Coalition of Ohio, a group that opposes all forms of contraception and requires candidates to be in “fundamental agreement” with their policy platform.

READ: Vivek Ramaswamy allies with anti-contraception group in Ohio governor’s race

• As Ohio’s Republican nominee for governor, Vivek Ramaswamy has aligned himself with the Right to Life Action Coalition of Ohio, a group that not only favors restricting abortion in all cases, but also opposes all forms of contraception.

• The GOP gubernatorial nominee accepted the group’s endorsement earlier this year, which RTLACO says is conditioned on a candidate being “in fundamental agreement” with the group’s policy document.

• The policy document says RTLACO “opposes abortion at any point of gestation,” “opposes abortion for pregnancy resulting from rape or incest” and “cannot support any form of contraception.”

• Linda Theis, RTLACO’s legislative team chair, told NBC News that the group’s leaders “met with Vivek early in the spring last year, a couple of different times.”

• “He assured us that he was totally with us. We met with him a second time, and he made sure that he said to us — he verbalized that he was all about protecting life without compromise, which is our main standard, so that was our big thing,” she added.

• Ramaswamy’s campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment about whether he agrees with RTLACO’s position on contraception, but his campaign website does tout RTLACO’s endorsement, among others.

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OCJ: Ramaswamy’s campaign shows “troubling” lack of transparency as questions go unanswered for eight weeks

Columbus, Ohio- New reporting from the Ohio Capital Journal reveals how billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign has racked up over half a million dollars in credit card bills, but refuses to say what the expenses were for. Ohio campaign finance law requires campaigns to disclose each individual transaction, but Ramaswamy’s campaign is only disclosing its single credit card bill even after weeks of questions. 

“Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign owes Ohioans answers about the concerning pattern of spending on his finance reports, from his unreported private jet to his refusal to explain his credit card use,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “His campaign had multiple chances to come clean about his spending, but failed at every turn. What kind of scam is Ramaswamy hiding this time?”

READ: Ohio GOP candidate for governor has put $500,000 on the campaign credit card

• Ohio Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign for governor has racked up more than half a million dollars in credit card bills without disclosing what the campaign is purchasing. 

• The campaign’s credit card spending has jumped dramatically in recent months. Just since April, Ramaswamy’s campaign has put $280,892 on an American Express card.

• Ohio campaign finance reports require campaigns to disclose each individual transaction — not just how much they spent but who they paid and what they purchased with the money. Ramaswamy’s campaign is only reporting its monthly credit card bill.  

• Even if every penny spent was a legitimate campaign expenditure — which it may well have been — reporting transactions under a single credit card reimbursement obscures how the campaign is spending money. It also leaves room for doubt about whether those transactions are legitimate.

• Although many campaigns use credit cards, Ramaswamy is an outlier in terms of dollar amount and reporting. 

• Ramaswamy has experience reporting itemized credit card transactions. During his 2024 presidential run, Ramaswamy’s campaign finance reports included each individual expenditure separately. In October 2023, for instance, he spent $57,411 on food, lodging and event rentals throughout New Hampshire. He even paid $1,250 to get the Piscataqua Rangers Junior Fife and Drum Corps for a campaign event.

• But in Ohio, Ramaswamy’s campaign has reported only a monthly lump sum reimbursement — effectively building a wall around those transactions. Getting any information about the campaign’s credit card use requires filing public records requests. That takes time, but the campaign calendar isn’t waiting.

• The Ohio Capital Journal’s request for documents related to the Ramaswamy campaign’s pre-primary report has gone unanswered for eight weeks: enough time for the campaign to hit another campaign finance reporting deadline, with yet more $90,000-plus monthly credit card reimbursements.

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