Amelia Robinson is the Columbus Dispatch’s opinion and community engagement editor.
Unless H.E. double hockey sticks freezes over, someone who is not a White man will be elected Ohio governor for the first time in history this year.
My friend’s mom — and Ohioans like her — might be a big problem for Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
His Democratic challenger, Amy Acton, faces challenges of her own.
But first, Ramaswamy and the undeniable hurdles he faces with Ohioans like my friend’s mom, a White, MAGA-aligned conservative in her early 70s.
If race were not a factor, she’d likely be lined up to support Ramaswamy, who received President Donald Trump’s endorsement about a year ago.
My friend’s mother lives in a small rural town, which has consistently backed Trump for president, despite all his many controversies.
She votes in every election. The problem for Ramaswamy, according to her son, is that she won’t vote for someone like him due to her deep mistrust and dislike of immigrants, Muslims, and Black and Brown people.
A ‘bad painter’
Ramaswamy, an Upper Arlington resident and son of Indian immigrants, was born and raised in the Cincinnati area and waves the red, white, and blue. He’s Hindu, not Muslim.
My friend says that fact doesn’t matter at all to his mom, a racist (his word), who lumps all nonwhite people together and labels them “bad.”
My friend’s mom is the kind of Ohio voter that Casey Putsch, an accused Adolf Hitler fan challenging Ramaswamy for the Republican nomination in the upcoming primary election, is clearly trying to appeal to.
“Hey Vivek, you wanna play cowboys vs. Indians?” he asks before firing three shots from a rifle in an April 14 video posted to X. “Don’t worry. It’s feather, not dot.”
Columbus-area restaurant owners on April 15 announced the cancellation of a fundraiser to be held at their business after “discovering opinions Casey Putsch, a candidate running for Ohio governor, has made regarding Adolf Hitler, Nazis, and the Holocaust.”
D.J. Byrnes of The Rooster Substack asked Putsch to say one bad thing about Hitler on April 17 at the fundraiser’s new location, Goodale Park.
Putsch told Byrnes, “Bad painter.”
Putsch doesn’t have a chance of beating billionaire, Ohio GOP-endorsed Ramaswamy. Neither does his other Republican challenger, Morgan County’s Heather Hill.
Hill, incidentally, just considered dumping her running mate, Stuart Moats, from her ticket. In a Facebook post, she claims he called her a racial slur. Hill is Black.
Who gets to be an American?
Racism — the kind Trump constantly stokes and Ramaswamy courted during his anti-DEI crusade — very well might cost Ramaswamy some votes this November.
It is the ongoing fight over who gets to be American and who doesn’t, an issue that Ramaswamy somewhat outlines in “What is an American,” a Dec. 17 opinion piece penned for the New York Times.
The piece was aimed partly at far-right Groypers and white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who have made xenophobic and racist comments about Ramaswamy.
“If, like Mr. Fuentes, you believe that Hitler was ‘really f-ing cool,’ or if you publicly call Usha Vance a ‘jeet,’ then you have no place in the conservative movement, period. The point isn’t to clutch pearls, but to prevent the gradual legitimization of this un-American animus,” Ramaswamy wrote.
Sexism is real
The November election is shaping up to be the first time in the state’s history that a White Christian man’s name won’t be on the ballot for governor for one of the major parties.
Unless something truly wild happens, Ramaswamy will face Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton, who does not have a primary challenger.
Neither race, gender nor religion should play a part in the election, but we live in a world where such factors do exist, despite what Ramaswamy and others who deny the need for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs say.
Being a woman will no doubt create hurdles for Acton, who is also Jewish. Sexism is real.
There have already been efforts to paint her as a weak, unstable woman. Those labels are often foisted on female candidates.
Nancy P. Hollister is technically Ohio’s only female governor. The Republican served in the office for 11 days between Dec. 31, 1998 and January 11, 1999, transitioning from her role as lieutenant governor after Gov. George Voinovich resigned to join the U.S. Senate.
Ohio is among the dwindling number of states that have never elected a female governor.
Former Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, the first woman to win a major party’s nomination in an Ohio gubernatorial primary, tried in 2022 but was trounced 62% to 37% by incumbent Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican whose favorability among Democrats was boosted due to his handling of COVID-19 pandemic and his name recognition.
Whaley’s defeat was much greater than Tim Ryan’s 47% to 53% loss to JD Vance in that year’s U.S. Senate race on the same day.
Ohioans may or may not reveal whether they are more racist or sexist with the results of the 2026 governor’s race. This shouldn’t even be an issue.
Neither candidate has held elected office before. Still, voters should compare Ramaswamy and Acton’s stances on issues and pick the one that best matches their views.
Of course, I am not holding my breath that everyone will do that.
For her part, my friend’s mom voted for John McCain during the 2008 presidential election because Sarah Palin was his running mate.
Amelia Robinson is the Columbus Dispatch’s opinion and community engagement editor.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ramaswamy, Acton Ohio governor battle a test of race and sex | Opinion
Reporting by Amelia Robinson, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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