OTTAWA, Ohio (WLIO) – Ohio’s Republican candidate for governor made a stop in Putnam County to rally supporters. Vivek Ramaswamy was the keynote speaker for the county’s Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner.
He spoke with local Republicans about the state of the nation and Ohio. Ramaswamy said the state was called the frontier when the United States was being formed, and he wants it to be the frontier again, but in areas like technology. He also discussed his vision for lowering the tax burden and increasing housing in the state.
“That's why, on my watch, we're going to make Ohio a zero income tax state, because you deserve to keep what you earn. It is your money, not the government's. That's the American way. We're going to bring down property taxes in this state immediately. It is your land, not the government's. You should not be paying more property taxes than you are in principle, in your interest repayments on your mortgages. We want to cut the red tape in our state so we can build, build, build, build more homes to bring down the cost of housing,” says Ramaswamy.
Ramaswamy has also made education one of his key campaign platforms, aiming to help students in Ohio stay competitive with China.
“See today, the average student in Ohio and in the United States is a full four years behind the average student in China. That's unacceptable. We're gonna have to turn that ship around for our country, and I think we here in Ohio have a special opportunity to do it by bringing standards back to our public schools, by taking our school choice programs yes to the next level, because every parent deserves to be able to send their kids to the best possible school,” adds Ramaswamy.
Ramaswamy was joined by Senator Bernie Moreno at the event. Former Ohio Health Department Director Amy Acton is the only Democrat who has announced a run for the 2026 governor’s race.
