OHGov

DeWine Called Vivek’s Tax Scheme “Absolutely Devastating”

Columbus, Ohio – Vivek Ramaswamy pledged to end property and income taxes on day one of his campaign and more recently invited an activist group working to pass this signature proposal into his home. Ramaswamy’s day one promise to implement a tax on working families would be devastating for Ohioans already struggling to make ends meet. 

Ramaswamy’s tax on working families would raise costs across the board for working families. Ohioans would pay even more at the grocery store after Ramaswamy’s 18% sales tax and keep less of the money they earn after his 15% income tax. For a $30,000 car, the sales tax would jump by $1,725 and the tax for a $1,300 refrigerator would jump from $75 to $234.

Even Republican Governor Mike DeWine said Ramaswamy’s plans would be “absolutely devastating” for working families. Ohio would be in a “huge crisis” if Ramaswamy’s plan became law and could wind up with an “astronomical” income tax rate that  is “by far the highest” in the country, said DeWine.

“At a time when Ohio families are already struggling with rising costs, Ramaswamy is entertaining house calls from fringe activists working to skyrocket costs for working families, and has signaled he would implement the same devastating policies as governor,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “Ramaswamy’s proposals are on brand for a billionaire who called Ohioans lazy, told families struggling with costs to just earn more, and said the ‘perceived’ rising cost of living was just in Ohioans’ imaginations while flying over them in a private jet.”

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Columbus, Ohio – More than a week has passed since reporting revealed billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy accepted a $500 contribution from a Nazi reenactor, and Ramaswamy is still silent. Despite repeated requests for comment, Ramaswamy has not indicated plans to return the funds.

READ: Vivek Ramaswamy silent after taking $500 from Nazi reenactor

• Vivek Ramaswamy’s Ohio gubernatorial campaign accepted a $500 donation from Richard Iott, a former Republican congressional candidate whose 2010 House bid collapsed after photographs emerged showing him wearing a Nazi SS Waffen uniform — and the campaign has still said nothing about it.

• Campaign finance disclosure records first reported by the Daily Mail show the donation was made on Aug. 15. Ramaswamy’s campaign has not responded to requests for comment, has issued no public statement, and has not indicated any plans to return the money.

• When contacted by The Atlantic at the time, Iott confirmed his participation in the Wiking reenactment group over several years. He said his interest was historical, not ideological, but added: “I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that here was a relatively small country that from a strictly military point of view accomplished incredible things. I mean, they took over most of Europe and Russia, and it really took the combined effort of the free world to defeat them. From a purely historical military point of view, that’s incredible.”

• Historians pushed back sharply on that framing. Charles W. Sydnor, Jr., a retired history professor and author of “Soldiers of Destruction: The SS Death’s Head Division, 1933-45,” told The Atlantic the group held “a sanitized, romanticized view of what occurred.” Sydnor noted that SS reenactments are illegal in Germany and Austria. Prof. Rob Citino of the Military History Center at the University of North Texas said: “It sends a shiver up my spine to think that people want to dress up and play SS on the weekend.”

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Columbus, Ohio-  It was another bad week for Vivek Ramaswamy. His past continues to haunt him, whether it’s Epstein dollars or refusing to return donations from known Nazi impersonators. Meanwhile, Ohioans are continuing to see through his plans to gut affordable healthcare and raise prices for working families.

Staying Silent: One week has passed since reporting revealed Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign took $500 from a Nazi reenactor who said that Nazis “accomplished incredible things.” In that time, Ramaswamy has not refunded the contribution or responded to requests for comment.

Vivek Faces MORE Criticism for Medicaid “Mistake”: Today, Ohioans gathered in Toledo to call out Vivek Ramaswamy for calling Medicaid and Medicare a “mistake.” While Ohioans struggle with the sky-high cost of living, Ramaswamy thinks lowering the cost of healthcare for millions of families on Medicaid and Medicare was a “mistake.”

$100K More Problems: Ramaswamy’s past Epstein-related donors continue to haunt his campaign. Earlier this week, reporting revealed his running mate Rob McColley accepted $5000 from Les Wexner, an Epstein co-conspirator. This latest revelation follows reporting that Ramaswamy’s Super PAC closed before returning $100,000 from Glenn Dubin, another billionaire Epstein associate, after promising to do so.

DeWine Tells It Like it Is: Republican Governor Mike DeWine said the quiet part out loud when he admitted Vivek Ramaswamy is more focused on his 2028 presidential campaign than delivering for Ohio’s working families. Ohioans can’t trust Vivek Ramaswamy to lower the sky-high cost of living or stand up for anyone but himself.

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Columbus, Ohio-  At the Politico’s 2026 Governors Summit, when asked if Vivek Ramaswamy wants to be a good governor of Ohio or a national political celebrity, Governor Mike DeWine said “I don’t know. I assume he wants to be both.” 

WATCH THE CLIP HERE

Ramaswamy has focused his attention on the national spotlight throughout his campaign, including op-eds in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, numerous appearances on Fox News talking about foreign policy and elections in Virginia and New Jersey, and telling Ohioans they’re just imagining rising costs. His dedication to flying away from Ohio’s working families was so strong he spent more than 10% of his total campaign budget on private jet travel.

“Even his own party leadership knows Vivek Ramaswamy is only running for Governor of Ohio to jumpstart his 2028 presidential campaign,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “Vivek Ramaswamy doesn’t care about Ohio’s working families or tackling our affordability crisis and would make the problem worse. Instead, he’s too busy flying over our state in his private jet to listen to the issues facing Ohio.” 

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Ramaswamy super PAC previously received $100K from separate billionaire Epstein associate 

Columbus, Ohio-  As Ohio Republicans continue to face questions about taking campaign cash from associates of Jeffrey Epstein, new reporting reveals Vivek Ramaswamy’s running mate Rob McColley received $5,000 from longtime Epstein patron Les Wexner. McColley has refused to return the money.

McColley’s refusal to return funds from Les Wexner, who is named more than 1,000 times in the Epstein files, follows previous reporting that Vivek Ramaswamy’s presidential Super PAC never returned a $100,000 contribution from an Epstein associate despite pledging to do so.

“Vivek Ramaswamy and Rob McColley holding onto tainted cash from Epstein associates is yet another reminder that they can’t be trusted to do what’s right for Ohio,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “Instead of focusing on lowering costs or protecting health care for Ohio families, Ramaswamy and McColley are flying high in their private jet and giving cover to friends of pedophiles. It’s disgusting.”

READ:

Ohio Statehouse News Bureau: 

• Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon), who is governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s running mate, got $5,000 from Wexner in 2024, according to Ohio Secretary of State finance records. When asked Wednesday, McColley said members of his caucus “can make their own decision.”

Cleveland.com:

• Ramaswamy also attracted some negative headlines during his presidential campaign after a billionaire associate of Epstein, New York City-based hedge fund manager Glenn Dubin, gave $100,000 to the American Exceptionalism PAC, a pro-Ramaswamy political action committee. 

• American Exceptionalism PAC dissolved late last year without donating or refunding the $100,000 from Dubin.

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