The leading candidates for Ohio governor have picked their running mates a little less than a month before they have to file their official candidate paperwork.
Tech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy and former Ohio Department of Health director Dr. Amy Acton will appear with them on Wednesday in events just hours apart.
Ramaswamy’s campaign confirmed Tuesday night that he would introduce Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) as his running mate this evening in Cleveland.
McColley, who also served in the Ohio House, is term-limited and had been talked about as a candidate for Congress in the crowded May primary in the newly redrawn 9th Congressional district, to face longtime U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH 9) in the fall. The Republican-proposed map that was approved unanimously by the Ohio Redistricting Commission is expected to tip the district toward a Republican candidate.
“If there are good ideas that come from Vivek Ramaswamy or anybody else, we're going to take a look at those. And they very well could influence the policy that we're going to implement on a going-forward basis," said McColley when asked how state lawmakers view Ramaswamy's proposals in a year-end interview with the Statehouse News Bureau in December. "I look forward to Vivek's candidacy. I think he's going to make an excellent governor and look forward to getting out on the trail and trying to help him get across the finish line.”
Wednesday morning, Acton’s campaign confirmed that former Ohio Democratic Party chair David Pepper is her choice for lieutenant governor, and they'll appear together at a Columbus-area event Wednesday afternoon, a few hours before Ramaswamy introduces McColley at their event.
Pepper ran unsuccessfully for auditor in 2010 and attorney general in 2014. He also chaired the ODP from 2015 to 2020, resigning after big Democratic losses in that election.
He's become known for commentary and criticism of Republicans on social media. He's interviewed and written about Acton on his Substack, but much of his writing has attacked Ramaswamy.
"This guy is woefully out of touch with how everyday Ohioans live and struggle," Pepper wrote in November, about a video Ramaswamy shared on social media that seemed to have edited out a proposal for year-round school he'd included in an earlier version of the video, which had received quick negative reaction. "He’s reckless, throwing things out there with little thought or understanding or care. He’s entirely unfit to govern this state. The good news is that Ohioans see through it—recent polls confirm this race is tied."
There has been little nationally recognized polling in Ohio for the governor's race. An Emerson College poll in August had Ramaswamy favored by 10 points, a follow-up poll from Emerson in early December had Acton leading by one point, well within the margin of error.
