Election results: Ramaswamy takes nomination for Ohio governor, 5 Trump-backed challengers win in Indiana
(AP via SCRIPPS NEWS GROUP) – Billionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has clinched the Republican nomination for Ohio governor and will face off this fall against the state’s COVID-era health director, Democrat Amy Acton.
A newcomer to state politics, Ramaswamy aggressively positioned himself for the job early with the help of endorsements from President Donald Trump and the state Republican Party.
Trump’s endorsement continues to carry weight in Ohio, which favored him three times for president, but Ramaswamy could face headwinds amid the president’s lagging popularity over the war in Iran and the rising cost of living.
Acton, a physician who was unopposed in her primary, has a well-known public profile and robust fundraising.
Husted secures GOP Senate nomination and Acton Democratic governor nomination
U.S. Sen. Jon Husted has secured the Republican Senate nomination in Ohio, as the incumbent braces for what is expected to be an expensive fight to hold his seat.
On the Democrats’ side, Dr. Amy Acton won the party’s nomination for governor. The state’s COVID-era state health director moves on to a likely matchup against Republican billionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who was facing a challenger in the GOP primary.
Husted and Acton were both unopposed in their primaries.
Five Trump-backed challengers win in Indiana
A majority of Republican Indiana state senators whose opponents were endorsed by Trump lost on Tuesday, a display of the president’s enduring influence over his party after lawmakers rejected his redistricting plan five months ago.
Of the seven challengers endorsed by Trump, at least five won. One incumbent prevailed and the seventh race was too close to call.
“Big night for MAGA in Indiana,” U.S. Sen. Jim Banks wrote on social media, adding that he was “proud to have helped elect more conservative Republicans to the Indiana State Senate.”
The president’s allies spent at least $8.3 million on races that rarely get much attention from Washington. It’s been a costly and unprecedented intraparty battle that has exacerbated tensions among Republicans ahead of the November midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.
State Sen. Travis Holdman, one of the incumbents to lose his primary, said he was at peace with his defeat. He voted against redistricting and faced more than $1.3 million in attack advertising funded by organizations tied to Banks and Gov. Mike Braun.
“I did what my constituents asked me to do and it cost me my job,” he says. “But that’s OK.”
Holdman warned that a more aggressive style of campaigning was arriving in his state.
“Welcome to D.C. politics in Indiana because this means that’s what’s coming,” he said.
The race that was too close to call was the most expensive of the seven primaries.
The superpacs led by Banks and Braun combined to spend more than $2.2 million on advertising attacking Sen. Spencer Deery, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. Deery spent roughly $815,000 on advertising, according to AdImpact, having only spent a combined $142,000 on the 2022 primary and general election when he was first elected.
Indiana rejected Trump on redistricting
Trump began leaning on Republican-led states last year to redraw their congressional maps to make it easier for his party to hold its thin majority in the U.S. House. Although redistricting is normally done once a decade, after a new census, Trump wanted to abandon tradition to gain a political edge.
Texas was the first to follow through, and the White House pressured Indiana to go along too. Vice President JD Vance met with state politicians in Washington and Indianapolis, and Trump weighed in by conference call.
However, Indiana senators rebuffed the effort, one of the president’s first significant political defeats of his second term.
The redistricting fight divided Republicans in Indiana, a state Trump won three times by no less than 16 points. Republican Gov. Mike Braun, U.S. Sen. Jim Banks and organizations such as Turning Point Action have worked alongside Trump to unseat the incumbents.
Jim Bopp, a prominent Indiana attorney who leads a political action committee aligned with Braun, predicted that Trump’s support will carry the day for the challengers.
“Republican voters overwhelmingly support Trump, and when they find out Trump has endorsed a particular Senate candidate, they swing their support behind them,” he said.
