COLUMBUS — With the final weeks of the race for governor under way, Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy brought his campaign to downtown Columbus on Wednesday, Oct. 14, speaking at a Columbus Metropolitan Club forum at the National Veterans Memorial and Museum.
Ramaswamy discussed his vision for Ohio in a conversation running from noon to 1 p.m. with Karen Kasler, the Statehouse News Bureau chief for Ohio Public Radio and Television. The Metropolitan Club’s forums are a longstanding stop for candidates and officeholders who want to make their case to Columbus civic and business leaders in a question-and-answer setting.
The race will decide who succeeds Gov. Mike DeWine in the governor’s office. Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur who ran for president in 2024, faces Democrat Dr. Amy Acton, who led the Ohio Department of Health during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The contest has been described as tight as it heads into its closing stretch before the Nov. 3 election.
According to the Metropolitan Club, Acton’s campaign was offered the opportunity to take part in a similar forum event, but had not committed. Such paired-but-separate appearances are common in the final month of statewide campaigns, when candidates weigh friendly rooms, travel schedules and debate negotiations against each other.
For Ramaswamy, the Columbus appearance is part of a closing argument aimed well beyond the capital. Statewide candidates typically use the last weeks of October to sharpen a simple message for undecided voters while also turning out supporters who may need a reminder to return a ballot or show up on Election Day.
Acton, for her part, carries a profile most Ohioans formed during the pandemic, when her daily briefings alongside DeWine made her one of the most recognizable public officials in the state. That familiarity is a central asset in her campaign to become the Democrat who can win a statewide race in Ohio, where Republicans have dominated recent statewide elections.
Early voting is already part of the picture in Franklin County and across Ohio, so forums like Wednesday’s land at a moment when some voters are deciding now rather than waiting for Nov. 3. Every public exchange between now and Election Day — forum, interview or advertisement — is aimed at a shrinking pool of Ohioans who have not yet made up their minds.
The governor’s race tops the Nov. 3 ballot in Ohio, alongside other open statewide contests created by term limits, including the races for attorney general and state auditor. Voters who missed Wednesday’s forum will have further chances to hear both candidates as the campaigns move through their final schedules across the state.
