By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on Tuesday lost to his Republican midterm elections to his opponent Amy Action in senate race from Ohio, media reported.
Media reports stated that he brought a private plane, a $36 million personal check, and Trump and Vance rallied behind him.
He spent a $4 million attack ad against his opponent’s mother later, is the most expensive lesson in how not to close a campaign.
Democrat Amy Acton has won Ohio’s race for governor. She beat GOP Vivek Ramaswamy.
Ms. Acton received 51% votes.
Ramaswamy was 46 percent which puts the gap at 4 to 5 points.
The win flips the governor’s office.
GOP have held the office since January 2011.
Acton is the first Democrat elected governor of Ohio since 2006. She is also the first woman ever elected to the job in the state.
Acton is a physician and had never held elected office before this race.
Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, named her state health director in 2019.
She was the first woman to hold that post.
Her profile jumped in early 2020. She stood beside DeWine at the daily briefings on COVID-19.
Ohio closed schools and restaurant dining rooms early in the pandemic.
She left the job abruptly during that period. She said she was being pushed to sign orders she did not agree with. That exit became a talking point in the race.
She launched her campaign in January 2025. She won the Democratic primary in May without an opponent.
Ramaswamy is a biotech entrepreneur and billionaire. He founded Roivant Sciences. He ran for president in 2024 and failed to gain traction.
US President Donald Trump asked him to co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency with Elon Musk.
Ramaswamy left that effort on the day of Trump’s inauguration in January 2025.
He won the Republican primary on 5 May 2026.
Trump and DeWine endorsed him early. DeWine who is term-limited and could not run again. If he had won, he would have been Ohio’s first Indian American Governor.
Acton led most polls for months. But the race changed about two weeks before Election Day.
Ramaswamy’s campaign ran an ad featuring Acton’s estranged mother. In the ad, the mother called Acton a liar. Reports put the ad buy at about $4 million.
The backlash was swift. Several outlets said it dominated the closing stretch.
Media reported that it may have given Acton a lift. Analysts will argue over how much it moved votes. The late polls did show Acton ahead.
Ramaswamy also ran an ad about a 2019 incident. Police were called to Acton’s home. Acton cited that ad as one reason she would not debate him.
Both sides went hard. Ads on Ohio TV for months were personal.
Ramaswamy and his allies called Acton unfit to lead. Some ads suggested she was a drunk. They also went after her pandemic record.
Acton’s side called Ramaswamy an out-of-touch billionaire.
Her campaign called him a swindler. He denies that. She also painted him as a biotech fraud.
The contrast got visual. Ramaswamy flew around Ohio on a private plane. Acton drove a 2018 Jeep Wrangler.
She declined to debate and did not allow cameras at her rallies. She dodged questions about her time as health director. Critics said she ran a cautious race. Supporters said it worked.
Ramaswamy had more cash. He put an estimated $36 million of his own money into the race.
By mid-October, he and his allies had spent about $101 million on ads against Acton.
Ms. Action side had spent a third as much. Despite that gap, the spending did not give Republicans the lead they hoped for.
