Vivek Ramaswamy Shatters Ohio Fundraising Record with $9.88M Haul

The campaign said the July-December haul surpassed the $9.7 million it raised in the first two quarters of the year and marked the strongest single reporting period performance by a gubernatorial candidate in the state. The amounts do not include any personal investment from Ramaswamy, the campaign said.

"You simply don't see this level of support in a gubernatorial race in Ohio," said Jonathan Ewing, campaign manager for Vivek Ramaswamy for Ohio. "Raising $9.88 million in a single reporting period and nearly $20 million in the year before the election sends an unmistakable message: Vivek's campaign has historic momentum that no other campaign can match."

According to the campaign, Ramaswamy raised more than $19.57 million in 2025, more than doubling the previous Ohio gubernatorial fundraising record of $8.4 million set by then-candidate Mike DeWine in 2017.

Since launching his campaign in late February 2025, Ramaswamy has held 112 campaign events that included a fundraising component, the campaign said. It added that the $9.7 million raised earlier in 2025 came from 40,000 unique donors and that the $9.88 million raised in the second half of the year similarly reflects contributions from supporters alone.

The campaign said Ramaswamy's early fundraising has already outpaced the total campaign receipts of several past Ohio gubernatorial candidates. In his first two filings, the campaign said, Ramaswamy raised more than the entire campaign totals of Republican John Kasich in 2010 and 2014, Republican Mike DeWine in 2022, and Democrat Richard Cordray in 2018.

Campaign officials also pointed to endorsements as evidence of political momentum. The campaign said that since receiving President Donald Trump's endorsement on the first day of his campaign, Ramaswamy has secured backing from conservative lawmakers, community leaders, law enforcement officials, business leaders, and labor groups in Ohio that have historically endorsed Democrats.

The campaign said the fundraising pace puts Ramaswamy on track to surpass DeWine's total fundraising record of $24 million from the 2018 gubernatorial race.

Details of the campaign's 2025 semiannual finance report, covering activity from July 1 through December 31, 2025, are expected to be filed with the Ohio secretary of state by January 31, 2026.

The 2026 election will determine a successor to term-limited Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. If elected, he would be the third Indian American Governor after Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley.

- IANS