- Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy announced his candidacy for Ohio governor in Cincinnati on Monday.
- His education platform includes banning phones in classrooms, reinstating the Presidential Fitness Test, requiring seniors to pass the U.S. Citizenship Test and implementing merit-based pay for educators.
- Ramaswamy plans to address crime by empowering police, protecting Second Amendment rights and reintroducing psychiatric institutions.
Biotech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy announced his bid for Ohio governor Monday evening, as he outlined his campaign platform on education, public safety and taxes.
Ramaswamy is one of the first candidates to declare his intention to run in the 2026 Republican primary for Ohio governor.
His wife Apoorva Ramaswamy, who works as a throat surgeon at Ohio State University, introduced him on Monday to the audience.
“I know that if he is as a fraction of the husband he is and father he is for us at home, he will be the best governor the state has ever seen,” Apoorva Ramaswamy said.
Vivek Ramaswamy then walked onto the stage and said, “America is back, and it feels fantastic.”
Ramaswamy began his speech by discussing his involvement in President Donald Trump’s campaign. “I spent the last year working tirelessly to help send Trump back in the White House, because it was a fork in the road,” he said.
“What does it mean to be American?” Ramaswamy asked. “It means we believe in merit and hard work. That you get ahead in this country not by the color of your skin but by the content of your character and your contributions.”
Trump is making moves in D.C. to give states more power, and Ohio is in need of a leader “to revive our conviction,” Ramaswamy said.
“That is why today I am honored to announce that I am running to be the governor of a great state at the heart of the greatest nation known to mankind. The state where I was born and raised, the state where Apoorva and I raise our two sons today, a state whose best days are still ahead. I am honored to announce my candidacy to serve as the next governor of Ohio,” Ramaswamy said.
What are Ramaswamy’s initial campaign promises?
The campaign promises Ramaswamy announced on stage in Cincinnati aim at deregulation and turning education and workforce policy to merit-based systems.
“At the turn of the century, we were the third most populous state in the country, the wealthiest state in the union, an economic power house, great farmland,” Ramaswamy said. And though he said he believes the state is largely headed in the right direction, “there are some changes we need to make.”
Ramaswamy promised to reduce taxes, “because you deserve to keep what you earn.”
Campaign promises about education
Regarding education, Ramaswamy promised to bring back the Presidential Fitness Test, which was discontinued in 2012 by former President Barack Obama.
He also promised to bring healthy food to cafeterias, ban cellphones from classrooms, bring back civics education, eliminate “woke indoctrination with U.S. history,” stand for vocational programs and require every high school senior to pass the U.S. Citizenship Test in order to graduate.
During his presidential campaign, Ramaswamy said he would abolish the Department of Education and give the designated tax money to parents, per the New York Post.
His gubernatorial announcement included similar promises. He said he would give parents more choice in their children’s education. He vowed to take school choice programs “to the next level, so every kid no matter what ZIP code they’re born in can get the best education.”
Ramaswamy also said homeschooling is a viable option for parents.
If elected, meritocracy will not only apply to students in classrooms, but Ohio “will be the first state in the country to implement merit based pay for every teacher, principal, superintendent and administrator in our public schools,” he said.
“Our best public school teachers deserve to be paid a lot more than they are right now,” Ramaswamy said. “With merit based compensation, Ohio will be a magnet for the best educators across the country.”
Campaign promises about psychiatric care
Ramaswamy proposed the way to end the “wave of violent crime,” by empowering police officers with training, respecting Second Amendment rights and bringing back psychiatric institutions.
“Our jails cannot be the first line of psychiatric care in this state,” Ramaswamy said.
During his campaign for the presidency, Ramaswamy explained his position on bringing back mental institutions to “The Young Turks.” He said pharmaceutical companies benefit from psychiatric facilities and said he would instead implement facilities that are faith-based.
“That is not compassion, that is cruelty to everyone involved, and we’ll put an end to it,” Ramaswamy said, Monday.
Ramaswamy also said he would attach work requirements to Medicare and Medicaid. “It’s not compassion to make someone more dependent on the government; the compassionate thing to do is to help them achieve their independence from it,” he said.