Vivek Ramaswamy, is running strong for the Ohio Governor’s Job…
He’s up against a Democratic woman Amy Acton....
The race, in Red State , Ohio is close….
Politico does a piece about race and ethics in the vote….
“We call it the American dream for a reason, because there is no Canadian dream, there is no British dream, there is no Chinese dream,” Ramaswamy, 40, told attendees, standing on a makeshift stage underneath a balloon arch and an American flag. “I understand why many are skeptical, but what I’m talking about tonight is how we are going to turn Ohio into the cradle of the American dream once again.”
Not everyone bought it. At the back table, Setys Kelly, who is the Ramaswamy campaign’s captain in nearby Clark County, clapped throughout his speech. But when he brought up the notion that anyone could come to the United States and achieve the American dream, she shook her head. “I’m going to be a hard no on that. You need to be an American to do the American dream,” said Kelly, a white woman. “I come from Springfield, land of the Haitians. … I just don’t want any more of that kind of immigration where they just dump them on you.”
It’s this sort of sentiment that Ramaswamy must navigate as the Republican nominee to be Ohio’s next governor, with issues of race and identity swirling in the campaign.
Ramaswamy, an Indian American with immigrant parents, left a lucrative career in biotechnology to run for president in 2024 and immediately won prominence on the national stage. He won the GOP primary for Ohio governor comfortably last month after batting down Casey Putsch, a far-right challenger who attacked him over his race and religion. His November faceoff against Democrat Amy Acton, who is white, is poised to be one of the marquee governors’ races this cycle.
Ramaswamy’s central message is that anyone can be a part of the American dream if they just work hard enough. But even as he waxes poetic, he’s discovering that not all of his fellow Ohioans see him as part of that dream. In interviews with more than 20 voters and strategists across Ohio — a state that is 80 percent white and two-thirds Christian — Ramaswamy’s background was seen as a real political hurdle to overcome. Few admitted their uneasiness with Ramaswamy’s race, but several said they knew a neighbor who won’t vote for him because he isn’t white. None said they would reject him because of his religion (Ramaswamy is Hindu), but several said they know people at church who will.
“Most of us, the only time we’ve ever been in a room with someone of color like him was when you went to see your doctor,” said Denny Malloy, a white man and Trumbull County GOP chair, who supports Ramaswamy. “When you get to eastern Ohio, they look at him like they don’t know how to accept him.”….
Note….
Remember the New York City Mayor’s Election?
image…Ohio Capital Journal
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