This, in brief, seems to be Vivek Ramaswamy’s argument for why voters should choose him to be Ohio’s next governor instead of Dr. Amy Acton, the Democratic nominee: Democrats have made a mess of the statehouse, and only Ramaswamy and his GOP cleanup crew can straighten out Ohio.
Before, that is, 2024 presidential candidate Ramaswamy, of Upper Arlington, runs for president again.
But ... fact: Since 1990, a Republican has been governor of Ohio except for Democrat Ted Strickland’s single 2007-11 term.
Republicans, not Democrats, own Ohio's mess
Republicans have run the state Senate continuously since 1985. Except for two years, Republicans have run the Ohio House of Representatives continuously since January 1995. And since the late 1980s, the Ohio Supreme Court has had a Republican majority.
And though history will shame Ohio for it, the state cast its presidential electoral votes for Donald Trump every chance it’s had.
So George Voinovich, Bob Taft, John Kasich and Mike DeWine must have been secret members of the Democratic Party, as were such Ohio House speakers as Jo Ann Davidson and William G. Batchelder, such Senate presidents as Keith Faber and Matt Huffman, and a slew of Supreme Court justices.
Their sly work as crypto-Democrats calls to mind what Wisconsin red-baiter Sen. Joe McCarthy said about the secret communist plot to hijack America – “a conspiracy so immense and an infamy so black as to dwarf any previous venture in the history of man.”
So that's why Ohio’s bond rating – the equivalent of a consumer’s credit rating – has notched upward under Gov. DeWine.
Being as intelligent as he is (and Ramaswamy is nothing if not brilliant – he was valedictorian of his class at suburban Cincinnati’s Jesuit high school, St. Xavier), he can’t actually think Voinovich, Davidson, Kasich and Batchelder ran Ohio into the ground.
Also at issue: Why it’ll be 30 years this winter since Ohio’s Supreme Court ruled 4-3, with two Republicans among the four-justice majority, that the way Ohio “funds” public schools was – is – unconstitutional and must be reformed, top to bottom.
It hasn’t been.
And adding insult to injury, the state treasury is now sluicing hundreds of millions of tax dollars a year (more like $1 billion-plus) to private, frequently religious, schools, a clear violation of the Ohio Constitution, which every Ohio officeholder swears to uphold. The GOP owns the school funding mess lock, stock and barrel.
Ramaswamy is so confident in Ohio, he moved his business to Texas
Ramaswamy isn’t so much obliged to campaign as he is required to explain why Ohio is (supposedly) adrift without sails or paddles thanks to more than three decades of GOP rule, with state senators and representatives elected from GOP-rigged districts.
Meanwhile, Ramaswamy has signaled his confidence in Ohio by moving his main enterprise, Strive Inc., a big player in Bitcoin markets, out of Ohio and into Texas.
For all that, polling – at this writing – seemingly suggests that Republican Ramaswamy and his Democratic competitor, Acton, of Bexley, a Youngstown native who served as state health director in Republican DeWine’s Cabinet, would be virtually tied if the Nov. 3 gubernatorial election were held today.
Ramaswamy wants to move into what's left after Trump leaves office
Looming over the calendar is the undisputed fact that Ramaswamy would like to move into (what’s left of) the White House after Trump finishes wrecking the place.
Do the math: The Ohio governor’s inauguration will be on Jan. 11.
His or her first state operating budget must be passed within six months, by July 1. Then, six months after that, on Jan. 3, 2028, Iowa will stage its presidential caucuses, and on Jan. 11, 2028 – exactly one year after Ohio’s gubernatorial inauguration – New Hampshire is scheduled to hold its presidential primary election.
Meanwhile, Republican Vice President JD Vance, born in Middletown, also wants to succeed Trump. That could split Ohio Republicans right down the middle. (Advantage: Vance.)
If Ramaswamy becomes governor, then seeks the presidency less than a year after gaining Ohio’s “supreme executive power,” who’ll be minding the statehouse store while Ramaswamy trudges through New Hampshire’s snow? Faceless aides and grasping lobbies.
That is, the question becomes who’d really run Ohio come January: A Ramaswamy-for-president campaign doing business as the state of Ohio, or an Acton administration anchored not to her future but to Ohio’s?
Thomas Suddes is a former legislative reporter and writes from Ohio University. This column originally appeared in the Columbus Dispatch.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ramaswamy doesn't want Ohio. He wants the White House. | Opinion
