DOGE co-chair Ramaswamy planning 2026 run for Ohio governor: sources

Vivek Ramaswamy, the multi-millionaire biotech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate, plans to launch a bid for Ohio governor, multiple sources confirm to Fox News Digital.

The sources add that Ramaswamy, who along with Elon Musk is co-leading President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, is expected to make an announcement about a gubernatorial term “shortly.”

“Vivek’s basic plan remains (the) same: to get results at DOGE and then announce a run for governor before long,” said an Ohio staffer familiar with Ramaswamy’s thinking who asked to remain anonymous to speak further freely, Fox News reported Friday.

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Vivek Ramaswamy speaks before former President Donald Trump takes the stage at the campaign rally at Madison Square Garden on October 27, 2024 in New York City. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Ohio’s current Republican governor, Mike DeWine, is term-limited and cannot seek re-election in 2026.

DeWine announced Friday that Lt. Govt. Jon Husted would fill the US Senate seat that former Sen. JD Vance held until earlier this month, when the vice president-elect stepped down ahead of Monday’s inauguration.

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Before the Senate announcement, Husted had long planned to run for governor in 2026 to succeed DeWine.

Governor Mike DeWine announced that Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted will fill the vacant US Senate seat held until earlier this month by Vice President-elect JD Vance on Friday, January 17, 2024. (Reuters)

Ramaswamy, now 39, who launched his presidential campaign in February 2023, saw his stock rise as he went from a longshot to a contender for the Republican nomination.

Ramaswamy campaigned on what he called an “America First 2.0” agenda and was one of Trump’s biggest supporters within rivals, calling Trump the “most successful president of our century.”

Vivek Ramaswamy, right, supports former President Donald Trump during a campaign event at the Atkinson Resort and Country Club in Atkinson, New Hampshire, on January 16, 2024. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

He dropped his White House bid a year ago after a distant finish in the Iowa caucuses. Ramaswamy quickly endorsed Trump and became a top surrogate on the campaign trail.

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Ramaswamy, an Ohio native, was named along with Musk, the world’s richest person, to lead DOGE in a November announcement by Trump.

Ohio, once one of the biggest battlegrounds in general elections, has shifted red over the past decade as Republicans have dominated elections across the country.