Vivek Ramaswamy moves past primary, gears up for costly Ohio governor race against Amy Acton

Columbus, Ohio: Republican Vivek Ramaswamy has spent his campaign for Ohio governor focused on November's general election and finally gets the chance Tuesday to put the long primary season behind him, as the Trump-endorsed biotech entrepreneur positions for an expensive run against Dr. Amy Acton, the former state health director. Contests on the ballots also will set the stage for Ohio's third competitive US Senate race in the last four years, as well as a handful of US House races that are expected to be closely fought in the fall. Every statewide executive office is open this year due to term limits, but the governor's race has captured the bulk of the attention so far. Ramaswamy, a 2024 GOP primary presidential candidate, swept onto the state's political scene early last year as a mad shuffle was taking place. Then-Sen. JD Vance was ascending to the vice presidency and front-running gubernatorial candidate Jon Husted was being appointed to replace him in Washington. That opened a window of opportunity at the top of Republicans' statewide ticket. Though he is a newcomer in state politics, Ramaswamy's national profile, tech industry connections and proximity to Trump landed him the Ohio Republican Party's endorsement. With it, he cleared a prospective field that included the sitting state attorney general, state treasurer and lieutenant governor. But Democrats also saw opportunity with the open governors seat, even as the state, a former bellwether, has tipped convincingly toward Republicans during the Trump era. The president's lagging approval ratings on the economy and dissatisfaction over the war in Iran are contributing to a competitive contest. Acton, a physician and public health expert, emerged as their choice. She became a household name across Ohio in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic as she stood alongside Republican Gov. Mike DeWine during daily coronavirus broadcasts. Her comforting presence during the crisis made her a beloved figure with many Ohioans. But the administration's aggressive actions - including shuttering businesses, closing schools and cancelling an election - also earned Acton plenty of enemies and made her the occasional target of people upset about pandemic policies, with some armed protesters showing up outside her home. Ramaswamy's campaign has sought to capitalize on the lingering anger over pandemic restrictions with attacks on Acton's role early in the crisis. Acton is unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Ramaswamy faces a long-shot challenge from Casey Putsch. The engineer and car designer is a YouTube provocateur who has trolled Ramaswamy incessantly over his Indian heritage and Hindu faith and painted him as an out-of-touch billionaire "tech bro." Husted is unopposed in the GOP primary for Senate, a special election to fill the remainder of the six-year Senate term Vance won in 2022. Husted's likely opponent will be Democrat Sherrod Brown, a former three-term senator who lost a reelection bid against Republican Bernie Moreno in 2024, a contest where spending hit $500 million. Brown faces a minor primary challenge from first-time candidate Ron Kincaid. Early voting began April 7 under some new election laws, including citizenship checks and elimination of the four-day grace period for receiving mailed ballots. There have been no reports so far of any widespread problems for voters related to the changes. In the wake of a new round of redistricting that slightly favoured Republicans, the state also has numerous partisan congressional primaries. The most heated GOP primary is in the Toledo area's 9th District for the chance to take on Democratic US Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the longest-serving woman in Congress. The five-way contest includes former state Rep. Derek Merrin, whom Kaptur defeated by less than a percentage point in 2024, as well as an Air National Guard veteran, a healthcare industry worker, a sitting state representative and the former deputy director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Madison Sheahan. In Democratic US Rep. Greg Landsman's Cincinnati-area district, which his party considers a "must-hold," the three-way Republican primary includes Eric Conroy, a CIA and Air Force veteran who has been endorsed by Trump, Vance and Moreno. Landsman also faces a primary challenge from Damon Lynch IV, the grandson of a prominent civil rights leader. Lynch has criticized Landsman for his initial vote against a war powers resolution on the war in Iran, which Landsman later followed up with a favourable vote. In the Akron area's 13th District, five Republicans including business owner Neil Patel, a 2022 US Senate candidate, are vying for the opportunity to face Democratic US Rep. Emilia Sykes. As a Trump-backed national effort to remake congressional maps in Republicans' favour was underway, Ohio Democrats took a could-have-been-worse approach and passed the map they were given unanimously. Now party candidates are crowding congressional primaries acr