Ramaswamy pumps $25M of own cash into Ohio governor bid, smashes fundraising records

FIRST ON FOX: Vivek Ramaswamy is putting his money where his mouth is as the Republican candidate for Ohio governor is fulfilling a campaign pledge he first made last summer.

Ramaswamy, a multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and business leader, invested $25 million of his own money into his gubernatorial campaign so far this year. He first grabbed national attention in the 2024 election cycle by running for the GOP presidential nomination before dropping out and becoming a top surrogate for President Donald Trump.

The investment was included in Ramaswamy's latest fundraising report, which indicates he has hauled in a record $50 million since launching his campaign last year. That includes $30 million this year: $5 million from donors and Ramaswamy's $25 million investment.

The fundraising report, which was shared first with Fox News Digital on Tuesday, also highlights that Ramaswamy had $30 million in his campaign coffers at the end of last month. Separately, the Ramaswamy-aligned American Exceptionalism PAC reported $29.5 million in fundraising so far this cycle.

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"No gubernatorial campaign in Ohio history has ever put up numbers like this, and it sends a clear message: Ohioans are fired up for Vivek, our campaign is growing, and we will win big in November," Ramaswamy's campaign manager Jonathan Ewing said in a statement.

The report, coming before next month's Ohio primary, showcases Ramaswamy's large fundraising advantage over his Democratic rival for governor, Amy Acton, a doctor and researcher who served as director of the state Department of Health from 2019-2020. The winner of November's election will succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Mike DeWine.

Once a top general election battleground state, Ohio has shifted to the right over the past decade, with Trump carrying the state by 11 points in the 2024 election.

But this year's race for governor, as well as a battle for a U.S. Senate seat in the Buckeye State, are expected to be competitive. The Cook Report, a nonpartisan political handicapper, rates the governor's race as leaning Republican, which is one step away from being considered a toss op.

As first reported by Fox News Digital last July, Ramaswamy pledged to infuse up to $30 million of his own money into his bid for governor. His campaign says the $25 million investment so far this year is a large down payment on the pledge.

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Acton's campaign last week reported that it brought in $9.3 million in fundraising to date, which it highlighted as "the most ever raised at this point in the calendar by a Democratic candidate for governor in the state's history."

The campaign also reported more than $4.8 million raked in during the first three months of this year.

Campaign manager Philip Stein said the fundraising "is the clearest sign yet that Ohioans, including independents and Republicans, are excited to elect Dr. Amy Acton to be Ohio's next governor."

Ramaswamy, who was endorsed by Trump last year as he launched his campaign, has used his large financial lead over Acton to put up ads statewide in Ohio. The campaign in March launched a $10 million ad buy and pledged to keep running spots through Election Day in November.

Ramaswamy's campaign noted that "Vivek has already far surpassed all finance benchmarks set in recent gubernatorial campaigns."

They also spotlighted the grassroots nature of Ramaswamy's fundraising, with 392,347 donations from more than 120,000 unique donors, with an average contribution of just $63. They also pointed out that donors giving $200 or less accounted for over 98% of individual contributions.

The campaign pointed out that the fundraising drive will continue, and shared that Ramaswamy will headline a fundraising event in Columbus on Thursday evening that's expected to bring in over $1 million.