Washington, October 11, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Indian-American Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s bid to become Ohio’s next governor has tightened into a toss-up, with all three major US political forecasters now rating the race as competitive. Ramaswamy is seeking to become only the third Indian-American governor in US history, after Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley.
Polling averages on Saturday showed Democratic candidate Amy Acton ahead. Track the Vote placed Acton at 48.5 per cent and Ramaswamy at 43.7 per cent, while PolitiKool put her at 48.4 per cent against his 43.8 per cent. PolitiKool also reported a 3.6-point shift in Acton’s favour over the past month.
The contest is for an open seat being vacated by Republican Governor Mike DeWine, who is term-limited. The race has drawn national attention, with Vice President JD Vance campaigning for Ramaswamy at a rally in Lima, Ohio.
“Vivek is an entrepreneur. He’s a guy who hasn’t just received a paycheck he signed a paycheck to,” Vance said, highlighting Ramaswamy’s business background.
“He’s gonna get historic property tax relief for every single citizen who owns a house in this state,” he added.
Sabato’s Crystal Ball downgraded the race from “Leans Republican” to “Toss-up” on September 23. Inside Elections followed in early October, while the Cook Political Report has also classified the contest as a toss-up.
“A persistently poor national environment for Republicans informs several rating changes this week toward Democrats,” Kyle Kondik of Sabato’s Crystal Ball said, according to The Hill.
Recent polls have offered mixed signals. A CNN/SSRS survey conducted from September 29 to October 5 put Acton ahead at 50 per cent, with Ramaswamy at 42 per cent. However, a Republican-sponsored co/efficient poll conducted on October 5 and 6 showed Ramaswamy leading 45 per cent to 43 per cent.
Prediction market Kalshi gave Acton a 69 per cent chance of winning on Saturday.
Ramaswamy Emphasises Economic Agenda
Ramaswamy, 40, was born in Cincinnati to parents who immigrated from Kerala. A Harvard graduate, Yale Law School alumnus and biotechnology entrepreneur, he ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 and later co-chaired the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with Elon Musk before entering the Ohio gubernatorial race.
His campaign has reported raising $9.88 million, an amount described by experts as a record.
Ramaswamy has centred his campaign on reviving what he calls the “American Dream in Ohio”, promising lower costs, reduced regulation, less government waste and expanded energy supplies.
“That means bringing down costs, cutting red tape, reducing government waste, and expanding our energy supply,” he said in a campaign statement.
Acton, a physician, served as Ohio’s health director under DeWine from February 2019 to June 2020 and led the state’s early response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In her campaign statement, she highlighted the pressure on household budgets and pledged to address rising costs.
“The cost of gas, health care, utilities; there’s no more breathing room. As governor, I’ll take on the corruption that’s raising our costs, cut taxes for the middle class, and work with both parties to solve problems instead of making them,” Acton said.
Immigration and Hiring Practices Enter Campaign Debate
Acton has made a December 2024 post by Ramaswamy on X a central line of attack in campaign advertisements and speeches, ABC News reported. In the post, Ramaswamy defended technology companies that hire foreign-born engineers.
“A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers,” he wrote.
The debate over immigration and foreign hiring has intensified amid changes in federal policy. The Trump administration imposed a $100,000 fee on certain H-1B petitions, a measure subsequently blocked by a second federal judge, according to the supplied report. The administration also suspended the employment-based green card route for eight technology firms.
At the Lima rally, Vance criticised companies that shift jobs overseas or replace American workers.
“…if you’re trying to replace American workers with a legal immigrant later, you know what you’re gonna get? A big fat tariff,” Vance said.
Ramaswamy has also faced attacks targeting his Indian heritage from white nationalist Nick Fuentes and other online nativists on the political right.
Responding to questions about American identity at Turning Point’s AmericaFest in December 2025, Ramaswamy rejected the idea that some Americans were more authentically American than others.
“I think the idea of a heritage American is about as loony as anything the woke left has actually put up,” he said, according to Fox News.
“There is no American who is more American than somebody else… It is binary. Either you’re an American or you’re not,” he added.
Vance and Ramaswamy were classmates at Yale Law School. Vance’s wife, Usha Vance, is also Indian American.
A Potential Historic Governorship
Ohio last elected a Democratic governor in 2006. Republican Donald Trump carried the state in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential elections.
Jindal became the first Indian American elected governor in 2007 and served as Louisiana’s governor from 2008 to 2016. Haley served as South Carolina governor from 2011 to 2017.
If elected, Ramaswamy would become the third Indian-American governor in US history and the first to hold the office in a Midwestern state.
FOLLOW NOW
