Vivek Ramaswamy, the Ohio gubernatorial Republican candidate, speaks as the guest presenter to more than 100 who attended the Trumbull County Republican Party's Lincoln Day dinner Wednesday at the Eastwood Event Centre in Niles. Ramaswamy is running against Democrat Dr. Amy Acton in the Nov. 3 general election. (Photo by Sean Barron)

NILES — If things go his way, Vivek Ramaswamy promises to do his best to keep a red tint glowing along Ohio’s political landscape.

“I believe the American dream still exists. We have got to get to work to revive it,” said Ramaswamy, the state’s Republican gubernatorial candidate.

Ramaswamy was the guest speaker for the Trumbull County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day dinner Wednesday evening at the Eastwood Event Centre.

During his presentation, Ramaswamy focused on several traditional conservative themes, saying at one point that he will work to embrace and uphold such family and other values, along with implementing and supporting legislation aimed at lowering costs, improving schools and helping workers earn more. A priority will be to make Ohio a red state to the extent that “Texas and Florida will emulate us, not the other way around,” he told the more than 100 attendees.

On Feb. 21, 2023, Ramaswamy began his presidential campaign as a candidate in the 2024 Republican primary, pitching himself as a conservative with a vision for American national identity.

“To me, the American dream means you believe in merit. That you get ahead in this country not on the color of your skin, but on the content of your character and your contributions,” he said at the time. “It means you believe the people who you elect to run the government are the ones who actually run the government, not a federal bureaucracy.”

Ramaswamy ended his bid for the White House on Jan. 15, 2024.

His democratic opponent for governor is Dr. Amy Acton, who served one year as director of the Ohio Department of Health. She became well known for leading the state’s COVID-19 response via accompanying and advising Gov. Mike DeWine during his daily afternoon news conferences in the pandemic’s early days and weeks.

Also, on Wednesday, Acton’s campaign manager released a statement condemning remarks Ramaswamy made in which he reportedly attacked her for having been a survivor of childhood sexual abuse.

“Vivek Ramaswamy’s recent comments attacking Amy — a doctor, a mom and a survivor — for sharing her experiences of being sexually abused as a child are not just disgusting, they’re disqualifying,” the statement reads. “It’s unconscionable that Vivek Ramaswamy would do anything but stand with survivors of sexual assault. This shows exactly what kind of governor he would be.

“He should apologize to Amy immediately and support victims of childhood sexual abuse instead of shaming and silencing survivors.”

In his remarks at Wednesday’s dinner and program, Ramaswamy said that if elected, he would work to maintain the rule of law, deliver the state’s largest property tax cut and enforce stricter immigration policies.

Certain poorly constructed inflation and pandemic policies have resulted in a sloppily run state government, which has led to higher property taxes for many homeowners, including some older residents who have had to consider moving because of being unable to foot the bills, he said. At the same time, the higher rates have failed to address the needs of Ohio’s schools, he added.

School enrollment across the state has dropped about 7% since the start of the pandemic, yet costs per student have increased about 40%, Ramaswamy explained.

The first step toward tackling the high property tax rates will be to roll back taxes to pre-pandemic levels, he said, adding that he also intends to work toward improving the quality of education in the public schools, partly by bringing back certain standards that include requiring seniors to pass a civics test before they can graduate.

In addition, immigrants wishing to become legal citizens also should be subjected to such a test, which would align with naturalization forms, so they have at least a fundamental knowledge of the nation’s history and government, he continued.

Another plan of his will be to shrink the “overgrowth” of state government and rein in excessive spending, which he attributed to being the main driver of inflation.

Also on Ramaswamy’s to-do list will be to implement common-sense work requirements and combat three other problems, he noted.

“I will root out waste, fraud and abuse, no matter where it occurs,” Ramaswamy said, calling the problem “a systemic issue.”

Ramaswamy told his audience he also firmly believes in core tenets that include the right to free speech, as well as family values and the principles that rest upon the bedrock on which the country was established 250 years ago.

“It’s a special year that reminds us of who we really are,” he said, adding that some people may be skeptical in some respects of being able to achieve the American dream, but that they should not allow themselves to view the nation with cynicism.

“Our Mahoning Valley region, our state and our nation are in ascent,” Ramaswamy said. “When we win in November, Ohio will be the state others look up to.”

Before his foray onto the political stage, the entrepreneur founded in 2014 a biotechnological pharmaceutical business called Roivant Sciences and served seven years as its chief executive officer.

In 2022, he founded Strive Asset Management Inc., an investment firm.