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July 17, 2026
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WVXU Analysis: Cook Political Report moves Ohio’s governor race from ‘leans Republican’ to ‘toss up’
“In the world of politics it is a 7.2 earthquake, moving the tectonic plates of the entire race.”
COLUMBUS, OH– Yesterday, WVXU published a column on the recent ratings change from the Cook Political Report, which moved Ohio’s governor race to toss-up for the first time since 2018. Wilkinson described this shift as an “earthquake” that moved “the tectonic plates of the entire race” following “super arrogant” Vivek Ramaswamy’s recent foreign trips, bad polling numbers, and lackluster fundraising.
READ: Analysis: Cook Political Report moves Ohio’s governor race from ‘leans Republican’ to ‘toss up’
- News this week likely caused a bit of a jolt for Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, the biotech billionaire from Cincinnati.
- The Cook Political Report — which people in politics consider to be holy writ — has moved Ramaswamy’s race against Democrat Amy Acton from “leans Republican” to “toss-up.”
- It may not sound like much, but in the world of politics it is a 7.2 earthquake, moving the tectonic plates of the entire race.
- Jessica Taylor, an editor at Cook Political Report summed up Ramaswamy’s situation this way: ”Ohio Republicans we talked to are not optimistic about Ramaswamy and believe it’s a very tight race,” Taylor said.
- “’This was the wrong guy to roll the dice with in this political environment,’ one GOP source told us. Unable to bolster his own image so far, Ramaswamy will have to spend millions to try to dent Acton’s image before she can reintroduce herself. While she reported a record-breaking $9.4 million in the last quarter, she hasn’t gone up on air yet.”
- The Republican candidate for governor also caught flack for flying his private jet to Paris where he spent the 250th birthday of this country while Acton was in Ohio attending Independence Day events.
- David B. Cohen, director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron, said he believes Ramaswamy is his own worst enemy.
- “He’s super arrogant,” Cohen said. “He thinks he knows best. He thinks Ohio voters are stupid.”
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