Asked about his goal to eliminate the state’s income tax, Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican front-runner for governor, proposed consolidating Ohio’s universities.

It was a curious response.

Ramaswamy said: “The reason (eliminating the income tax is) possible is that you look at certain areas of excess spending where we can not just cut costs, but improve effectiveness. Look at the number of universities in our state. I love the universities in Ohio. I want us to have the best universities. But we have too many of them. They need to be consolidated. And when you consolidate them, they can actually be centers of excellence, who (are) actually the best in their respective domains, instead of trying to create replicas and clones of one another throughout the state. Just one example among many.”

Ramaswamy’s campaign was so pleased with his response that it posted it online.

Even though Ramaswamy said Ohio has “too many” universities and “they need to be consolidated,” Evan Machan, a spokesperson for his campaign, said Democratic gubernatorial nominee “Amy Acton is lying again, no surprises there. Vivek is obviously not going to eliminate Ohio’s great universities, but he will cut the bureaucracy that burdens them. College tuition costs are more unaffordable than ever, and Vivek won’t apologize for delivering solutions to fix that problem for Ohio families. Vivek has laid out a plan to create centers of excellence in higher education, while Amy Acton offers absolutely nothing as usual.”

Acton responded online to Ramaswamy’s comment, saying: “In Ohio, we’re proud of our world-class colleges and universities that are centers of community, our economy, create jobs and produce world-class athletes. It’s March Madness, and I’m rooting for our Ohio colleges while my opponent wants to eliminate the teams on your bracket.”

She added: “I paid my way through Youngstown State and went to teach at (Ohio State University). Ohio has the best colleges in the country, and Vivek Ramaswamy plans to get rid of them.”

Addie Bullock, Acton’s campaign spokeswoman, added: “Vivek Ramaswamy’s plan to eliminate an untold number of Ohio colleges and universities will devastate local communities across our state who depend on them for jobs, health care and quality of life.”

To consolidate public universities would likely result in a number of people not pursuing a higher education degree who want to obtain one.

Perhaps the state could close branch campuses such as Kent State at Trumbull, but that would limit the choices of those students.

But consolidating universities in response to a question about the feasibility of eliminating the state’s income tax was unexpected.

PLANS FOR CUTTING,

AXING INCOME TAX

Ramaswamy has touted eliminating the state income tax for about a year.

I asked him about it last April. His response was: “It’s not going to be immediate, but what I’ve said is we need to bring down the income tax eventually to zero because Ohioans deserve to keep what they earn. It’s your money and not the government’s. There are eight other states that got down to zero income tax that people from Ohio are moving to. You want to know what I see as the No. 1 problem in our state? It is the population decline in Ohio.”

He said: “One of the things I’m focused on is how do Ohioans get to keep their wealth, how do they generate more of that wealth, how do they generate more of that wealth in the state? I think bringing down the income tax eventually to zero is a crucial way to do it and also to market our state to the rest of the country so people can move in. Now when people move in, that drives economic growth. That’s more revenue through existing sales tax — just more volume of transactions.”

Our discussion was at a Mahoning County Republican Party fundraising dinner.

And how did Ramaswamy get there?

According to flight records, Ramaswamy flew on his Cessna 750 Citation — owned by his V Leasing LLC — from Columbus the day before the event to the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport and then flew home after the event ended.

Ramaswamy, a billionaire biotech entrepreneur, flew in and out of the area’s airport six times last year.

His campaign has said Ramaswamy uses his plane to more efficiently travel when campaigning around the state and that he loaned money to his campaign to pay for the flights so the numerous donations he’s received aren’t used for air travel.

Heartland Signal reported that Ramaswamy spent $782,149.66 for aircraft leasing and costs associated with flying in the plane in 2025.

Bullock said: “Vivek Ramaswamy flying around Ohio on a private plane shows just how out of touch he is with the everyday realities of Ohioans. While Ohio’s working families are struggling to keep up with rising costs, Vivek Ramaswamy is telling us from his private jet that the affordability crisis is all in our imagination. Ohio needs a governor who understands the issues we’re facing, not someone who treats our state like flyover country.”

Katie Seewer, an Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson, said: “Ohioans in the Valley are already struggling with the sky-high cost of living. The last thing they need is a billionaire who flies around in a private jet, calls them lazy, and says Medicaid and Medicare were a mistake.”

Republicans have won every statewide executive branch race since 2010 and Ramaswamy has raised considerably more money than Acton for this campaign. Ramaswamy’s campaign committed a $10 million ad buy with commercials already airing.

“We’re going up, and we aren’t coming down until November,” Jonathan Ewing, Ramaswamy’s campaign manager, said last week.

There are a lot of factors in play during this election with President Donald Trump, who endorsed Ramaswamy, and the economy among the big ones.

Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, one of the most-respected political websites that predicts outcomes for elections, on Thursday moved the Ohio governor’s race from “likely Republican” to “leans Republican.”

David Skolnick covers politics for the Tribune Chronicle and The Vindicator.