CLEVELAND — On the same night that Vivek Ramaswamy launched his campaign for Ohio governor, President Donald Trump endorsed him.
More than two months later, term-limited Gov. Mike DeWine is working behind the scenes to prevent the Ohio Republican Party from following Trump’s lead.
DeWine and his advisers are working to deny Ramaswamy an endorsement at the state party’s meeting on Friday, according to four people familiar with the situation, one of whom spoke directly with the governor.
The moves put DeWine at odds with Trump and Vice President JD Vance, an Ohioan who has directed his political team to help Ramaswamy’s campaign.
The move also exacerbates long-standing tensions in the state between the old guard, establishment GOP, which DeWine is attempting to preserve, and Trump’s MAGA movement, which includes younger figures like Vance and Ramaswamy among its next generation.
Last year, DeWine and Trump were on opposing sides in a high-profile GOP Senate primary, which Bernie Moreno, Trump’s candidate, eventually won.
And, since DeWine named Ohio State football legend Jim Tressel as his lieutenant governor in January, there has been widespread speculation that he wants the former coach to succeed him.
Aside from attending some party fundraisers, Tressel has given no indication that he intends to run, but he has not ruled it out.
“I believe he would like to avoid an endorsement because he wants to see if he can persuade Jim Tressel to run for governor,” one Republican leader in the state said of DeWine.
This person, like others interviewed for this article, was given anonymity to discuss private conversations and intraparty disagreements involving a sitting president and governor.
This week, DeWine did not respond directly to questions about his efforts ahead of the state Republican Party meeting. In a statement released through a spokesperson, he stated that he is focused on state budget negotiations.
“As far as who I endorse in the Republican primary for Governor, it is far too early, as we don’t even know who will be running,” DeWine said in a statement released Tuesday. “We are 364 days away from the primary and 293 days from the filing deadline. “In politics, this is a lifetime!”
To earn an endorsement, a candidate must receive votes from at least two-thirds of the state party’s 66-member central committee, which includes advertising and organizational support. The committee is scheduled to meet Friday to discuss the issue.
According to public and private polling, Ramaswamy — a biotech entrepreneur who ran for president in the 2024 election cycle before dropping out and endorsing Trump — has a significant primary lead over Tressel and state Attorney General Dave Yost. An outside group supporting Ramaswamy has already spent millions of dollars on television ads emphasizing Trump’s endorsement.
The supermajority vote is “a pretty high hurdle,” according to a committee member who spoke with DeWine directly. “I understand Vivek has a lot of support. He is handling the phone calls. The governor is working with them as well.”
According to this person and three other Republicans who have been briefed on the calls, DeWine is not advocating for a specific candidate, but rather for delaying an endorsement, claiming that it is premature. The primary is scheduled for May 5, 2026.
According to a Ramaswamy ally who was aware of DeWine’s calls, the governor and his administration “will be remembered for being wrong on every major Republican fight” and for opposing previous Trump-endorsed candidates.
“If Trump supports you, DeWine will undoubtedly take the losing side,” this person added. “The establishment is not only out of touch; it is out of time. And the state central committee will prove it once more on Friday.”
Others were frustrated that DeWine was meddling and teasing the possibility of other candidates emerging without providing an explicit alternative or coherent strategy.
“There’s not a unified opposition to the endorsement,” said the committee member who spoke with DeWine.
While DeWine’s involvement is seen as an attempt to keep the party’s powder dry in the event of Tressel’s late entry, it also has a hint of irony: DeWine pushed the party to endorse him in a competitive primary for governor in 2018.
The situations are not entirely analogous. The state party endorsed DeWine over then-Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor in 2018, about three months after the primary filing deadline. The 2026 primary is less than a year away.
The early polling, however, suggests that this race may not be as close. The Trump factor is also more pronounced. He did not participate in the 2018 primary, but he has been with Ramaswamy from the beginning.
And Trump’s support for Vance in the 2022 Senate primary and Moreno in the 2024 Senate primary helped them both win nominations. The Trump endorsements came much later in the cycle, putting less pressure on committee members to take an early stand.
In a recent letter to central committee members, Yost urged them to wait and see, while also lobbying for their support if they decide to hold a vote on Friday.
“The May 9 meeting is almost exactly a year before the primary election,” Yost stated in the letter, which was first reported by Cleveland.com. “A lot will happen in that year that could influence your decision. After all, the world is a constantly changing and unpredictable place.”
Yost also compared a rushed endorsement to how Democrats rallied around Vice President Kamala Harris last year after President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid.
“No primary, no vote—just a coronation. That did not go well for the Democrats, and there is no reason to think it will go better for the Grand Old Party,” Yost said.
DeWine did not respond to questions about the perception that he is attempting to create a more favorable environment for Tressel’s candidacy.
“When the time comes for an endorsement, I will base my decision on who I believe can best serve the people of Ohio and which Republican has the best chance of winning in the general election,” DeWine told reporters on Tuesday.
He did, however, state that he had already endorsed Sen. Jon Husted, his former lieutenant governor, in next year’s special election to fill the remainder of Vance’s Senate term. DeWine appointed Husted to fill the vacancy, which created the opportunity for Tressel.
Jim Dicke, a prominent Republican fundraiser in Ohio, said he sees little evidence that Tressel is considering running for governor.
“Usually people are making phone calls, testing the waters and getting in their Chevrolet to drive around the state,” Dicke told me.
“I’m sort of a ‘let’s listen to the voters’ person,” according to Dicke. “The enthusiasm for Vivek has been so overwhelming that I think there’s a legitimate argument that the voters are speaking.”
Ramaswamy has maintained a consistent schedule of party events, which has impressed Tony Schroeder, a central committee member and chairman of the Putnam County GOP. Schroeder stated that Ramaswamy earned his endorsement vote on Friday.
“He’s got the enthusiastic backing of voters in a way that I’ve never seen this early in a primary cycle,” Schroeder told the crowd. “It’s truly astonishing. “He’s filling halls across the state.”
