During a recent rally north of Dayton, President Donald Trump told the crowd that the nation is "doing better now than ever before" and urged the gathering to "just pretend that I'm running. When I run, we win," he said.
Though Trump has endorsed Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate for governor of Ohio, the entrepreneur and former presidential candidate is trailing Democrat Amy Acton by an average of nearly four or five percentage points, depending on the polling aggregator.
In a Marist University poll published Sept. 29, 2026, Acton led Ramaswamy 50%-44% among 1,298 registered voters, with a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.
Similarly, according to a Suffolk University/USA Today Network Ohio poll released around the same time, Acton led Ramaswamy 50%-41% among 500 Ohio voters, with a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.
In an interview with American Family News, Ramaswamy made it clear that he is not concerned about the "really distorted polls" that he says were "purposefully published in recent weeks."
He does not believe they accurately reflect Ohio voters' views or the race's actual direction.
"We're going to win this race," he asserted. "The reason we're going to win it is that we trust the wisdom of the people of Ohio, who share the values of the people of our country, putting faith, family, patriotism, and hard work over wokeism, socialism, transgenderism, and climate alarmism. That's really the heart of the matter."
Ramaswamy also said he wants to lead Ohio to rival states such as Florida and Texas, which are known for their strong Republican voting patterns, Republican-controlled state governments and policies reflecting conservative priorities.
At the Oct. 3 campaign rally, Trump touted what he called a new "golden age" for America, highlighting investments, jobs, tariffs and his administration's economic and immigration policies. He also urged voters to support Republican candidates Jon Husted and Ramaswamy and help the GOP retain control of Congress in the November midterm elections.
"I'll be the most conservative governor that Ohio has ever had in our history," Ramaswamy pledged. "Conservative governance works for economic growth and for creating prosperity. In a couple of years from now, it will be Ohio setting the example that Florida and Texas follow, rather than the other way around."
That, he said, is "the beauty of our country. Through federalism, that's how we work. We level each other up."
AFN contacted Acton's campaign for a response but did not receive a reply.
