Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican gubernatorial front-runner, collected his sixth labor organization endorsement with the union representing construction workers being the latest to back him.

Affiliated Construction Trades (ACT) Ohio today endorsed Ramaswamy for governor. ACT Ohio represents nearly 100,000 people in skilled trades and contracting.

“Our endorsement reflects a focus on outcomes: the highest quality work product, delivered safely on time and on budget by Ohio’s skilled trades,” said Matthew A. Szollosi, ACT Ohio’s executive director. “Vivek Ramaswamy has shown a willingness to listen, engage and recognize the role that our members, contractors and training programs play in producing exceptional results for taxpayers and investors across the state.”

Szollosi added: “We look forward to working with Vivek and his team to create tens of thousands of jobs with great wages and family-sustaining benefits.”

Ramaswamy said of the endorsement: “I’m grateful for the growing unity we’re seeing across Ohio. This campaign is about bringing people together to get things done and ensure our state remains the best place in America to live, work and build a future. I look forward to working with leaders from every sector to keep Ohio strong.”

This is the sixth labor endorsement received by Ramaswamy. All of the union endorsements have come in the past month.

The other endorsements came from the Northwest Ohio Building & Construction Trades Council, the Cleveland Building & Construction Trades Council, the Central Midwest Regional Council of Carpenters, the Ohio State Association of Plumbers & Pipefitters, and the Ohio Conference of Teamsters.

All six unions also endorsed Republican Mike DeWine in his 2022 reelection campaign for governor.

The Carpenters and the Plumbers & Pipefitters associations split endorsements for the 2026 election. They backed Ramaswamy, a Republican, for governor and Sherrod Brown, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate.

The only announced Democratic candidate for governor is Dr. Amy Acton, a Youngstown native who rose to prominence during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Acton hasn’t received any union endorsements to date though she received $15,000 in donations from the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association Political Action Committee and $5,000 from the United Steel Workers District 1.

Philip Stein, Acton’s campaign manager, said: “As someone who raised her family in a union household, Amy understands how critical organized labor is to ensuring working families in Ohio can afford to live their lives with a little breathing room. While Vivek Ramaswamy regularly attacks labor with calls for the elimination of teachers’ unions and federal unions, Amy is proud of the support she has received from the labor community and will always fight for unions and all Ohio workers.”

The only other possible Democratic gubernatorial contender is Tim Ryan, the former 20-year congressman who represented the Mahoning Valley.

Ryan put himself on a self-imposed deadline of next Tuesday to decide if he would run for governor though he recently told a Columbus television station that he might take a little longer to decide.

ACT Ohio and the Teamsters endorsed Ryan in his unsuccessful 2022 bid for the U.S. Senate.