The Vivek Ramaswamy for Ohio campaign announced it raised $9.88 million during the second half of 2025, exceeding the $9.7 million raised during the first two quarters of the year and bringing total fundraising for the year to nearly $20 million.

According to a January 5 statement from the campaign, the haul represents the strongest fundraising performance by a gubernatorial candidate in Ohio history. The campaign emphasized that “These amounts do not include any personal investment from Vivek.”

Ramaswamy, an Indian American entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate, was appointed by President Donald Trump following the 2024 election to serve in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside Tesla CEO Elon Musk. He later stepped away from the role on Inauguration Day, citing future plans in Ohio.

“It was my honor to help support the creation of DOGE,” Ramaswamy said in a social media post on January 20. “I’m confident that Elon & team will succeed in streamlining government. I’ll have more to say very soon about my future plans in Ohio. Most importantly, we’re all-in to help President Trump make America great again.”

Campaign Manager Jonathan Ewing said the fundraising numbers signal unprecedented momentum. “You simply don’t see this level of support in a gubernatorial race in Ohio,” Ewing said in the statement. “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, since launching in late February 2025, Ramaswamy has held 112 campaign events that included a fundraising component. As with the $9.7 million raised earlier in the year from approximately 40,000 unique donors, the $9.88 million raised in the second half of 2025 reflects contributions from supporters alone.

“The campaign’s record-breaking fundraising reflects extraordinary political momentum building across Ohio,” the statement added. It noted that since receiving President Donald Trump’s endorsement on the first day of his campaign, Ramaswamy has secured endorsements from conservative lawmakers, community leaders, law enforcement officials, business leaders, and prominent labor groups in Ohio that have historically backed Democratic candidates.

The campaign said this early and broad-based support underscores the strength of the mandate forming behind Ramaswamy’s vision for Ohio’s future.

Details of the campaign’s 2025 semi-annual finance report, covering the period from July 1 through December 31, 2025, will be filed with the Ohio Secretary of State by January 31, 2026.

Key statistics released by the campaign include:

• “Historic Early Fundraising: Vivek’s over $19.57 million raised in 2025 sets a new Ohio gubernatorial fundraising record, more than doubling the previous benchmark set by Mike DeWine in 2017 ($8.4M).”
• “Early Reports Outpace Past Totals: In just his first two filings, Vivek raised more than the entire campaign totals of Republican John Kasich ($18.3M in 2010; $18.5M in 2014), Republican Mike DeWine ($16.8M in 2022), and Democrat Richard Cordray ($19.56M in 2018).”
• “Poised to Shatter Current Total Campaign Fundraising Record: Vivek is on pace to surpass DeWine’s total funds raised for the 2018 gubernatorial campaign ($24M).”

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