Vivek Ramaswamy wants to be Ohio’s governor, but he’s finding that Ohio’s reliably red reputation isn’t giving the Republican much of a bump just yet.

In fact, Youngstown native Amy Acton — who once led the Ohio Department of Health under current Gov. Mike DeWine — had a slight edge over Ramaswamy in a recent poll.

Acton, the presumptive Democratic candidate, led her presumptive GOP rival 45.9% to his 44.9% in a Quantus Insights poll released March 16. The poll surveyed 809 likely voters during the weekend of March 13-14. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8%.

The Ohio Republican Party was quick to endorse Ramaswamy, even before current Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel had made his decision on a gubernatorial run. It came as no surprise that President Donald Trump also immediately endorsed Ramaswamy, given that Trump had appointed his one-time GOP presidential rival to work with Elon Musk in the Department of Government Efficiency before stepping away to launch his campaign in Ohio.

But a little over a year into Trump’s second term, his endorsement might not be the boost it was in 2025. Trump’s own policies on a variety of subjects — including tariffs, the apprehension of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a burgeoning war in Iran and increased concern over the affordability of the American dream — have Democrats more optimistic than ever about possible mid-term gains nationwide and here, where they hope to regain the governor’s mansion and reclaim one of the U.S. Senate seats.

Ramaswamy has jumped on the affordability bandwagon with a commercial featuring his wife Apoorva, who talks of her husband’s plans to ensure that every Ohioan has a fair shot at a better life. But the ad appeared around the same time that Vivek Ramaswamy made comments about how Ohio has too many colleges and universities and could benefit from consolidation.

Acton and fellow Democrats saw an opportunity after Ramaswamy’s comments and a follow-up op-ed didn’t exactly roll back what he’d said about the state’s colleges and universities.

On Monday, DeWine made clear where he stands.

“I’m not in favor of consolidating our colleges or doing away with any of our 14 public universities,” DeWine said. “It’s important to have them all over the state so frankly, people who can’t afford to live at the college and pay room and board, they can commute. We still have commuters.”

Even if we give Ramaswamy the benefit of the doubt and presume he was not talking about shutting down some colleges and instead just consolidating leadership positions in an effort to save money, the damage was likely done. Think about how many of us here in the Mahoning Valley either benefitted from studies at Youngstown State University or have family and friends who did. Now — if you can imagine it — think of this region without YSU.

Now think about every part of Ohio and the colleges and universities that enrich thousands of lives across the state and you understand why Ramaswamy has some damage control to do.

In the commercial, Apoorva Ramaswamy spoke of her husband’s commitment to helping Ohio families, who she said “are working hard, but falling behind.” When you consider how long Ohio has been under virtually exclusive GOP control in Columbus, you wonder if that message is another that won’t land well across the state.

It seems as though just over a year into his campaign, Vivek Ramaswamy is dealing with two factors he hadn’t planned for — Trump fatigue and some self-inflicted wounds.

It’s still early, but Ohio’s presumptive GOP gubernatorial candidate needs to regain his footing.