Vivek Ramaswamy for Ohio campaign announced January 5, 2025, that it raised $9.88 million during the second half of 2025, surpassing its earlier $9.7 million raised during the first two quarters of the year
Describing it as “the strongest fundraising performance by a gubernatorial candidate in Ohio history,” Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur, noted that the total did not include any personal investment .
“You simply don’t see this level of support in a gubernatorial race in Ohio,” Jonathan Ewing, his campaign manage, said. “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.”
Ramaswamy, a Republican, wants to go more grassroots despite his strong support. On the same day he announced he was leaving some key social media outlets personally, as it might help him be a better leader, and also spend more quality time with his family.
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Since launching in late February 2025, Ramaswamy’s campaign has hosted 112 campaign events that included a fundraising component, and like the $9.7 million raised earlier in 2025 from 40,000 unique donors, the $9.88 million raised in the second half of the year reflects contributions from supporters alone.
Calling it “record-breaking fundraising” the Ramaswamy campaign sees it as an “extraordinary political momentum building across Ohio.”
The Indian American candidate received President Donald Trump’s endorsement on the first day of his campaign which launched in February 2025, Ramaswamy has been endorsed by conservative lawmakers, community leaders, law enforcement, business leaders, and prominent labor groups in Ohio that have historically endorsed Democrats, his campaign claimed, adding that the early “overwhelming” support was unusual in Ohio.
Details of the campaign’s 2025 semi-annual finance report, covering fundraising activity from July 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025, will be filed with the Ohio Secretary of State by January 31, 2026.
His campaign outlined key statistics as follows in the Jan. 5, 2026 press release:
- 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).
New Year Resolution
Ramaswamy also announced on Jan. 5, that he was going off Instagram and X social media outlets because if one relies on them, “It’s too easy to get a distorted sense of the public’a concerns.”
He used as an example the Prime Minister of Italy Georgia Meloni who told him she preferred to meet citizens directly rather than check the news.
“My New Year’s resolution is to do something similar: I plan to become a social-media teetotaler in 2026,” Ramaswamy said in a press release, making national news.
He deleted X and Instagram from his phone on December 31, 2025.
“I’ll spend my newfound time listening to more voters in real-world Ohio, developing more policies to make our state affordable, and being more present with my family. I predict that ending my consumption of social media will make me a better leader and a happier man,” Ramaswamy said.
However, his campaign team will still use social media to distribute messages and videos on his behalf, he clarified.
“But I won’t browse any of it myself,” adding, “There’s a fine line between using the internet to distribute your message and inadvertently allowing constant internet feedback to alter your message. That isn’t using social media; it’s letting social media use you.”