Rob McColley on the left and Vivek Ramaswamy on the right. (Photo: Morgan Trau, WEWS.)
Ohio Senate President Rob McColley has been selected as GOP primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s pick in the 2026 governor’s race, according to a spokesman for their campaign.
As first reported by NBC News on Tuesday night, Ramaswamy’s team announced that if elected, McColley would be his lieutenant governor.
McColley, a lawyer from Napoleon, Ohio, was the long-awaited choice of the Cincinnati-born businessman.
The Senate President, 41, joined Ramaswamy, 40, at a number of events across the state leading up to the announcement.
Ramaswamy had previously told us that he would work with the legislature on all his policy ideas.
“This is the type of leadership that we need to build on the foundation that we’ve already built in this state to make us not only the best in the Midwest, but the best in the country,” McColley told me in September.
Strategists continued to suggest that McColley could be Ramaswamy’s running mate because of his ability to navigate lawmakers.
In his role as top leader in the Senate, he controls 23 other Republicans.
McColley played a key role in the adoption of Ohio’s novel flat income tax. He has also repeatedly personally opposed more marijuana-friendly House legislation.
Although McColley has broken away from House Speaker Matt Huffman on several crucial occasions over the past year, strategists say he is the best choice to mediate between the executive and legislative branches.
In addition to his ability to work with the General Assembly, strategists told us McColley could support win over Christian voters.
In December, Ramaswamy wrote a guest essay for the New York Times in which he condemned the racist and Hinduphobic attacks he faced during his campaign.
McColley’s origins
He grew up in northwest Ohio, graduated from OSU and went on to law school at the University of Toledo.
McColley began his career in state politics in 2017, first serving in the House of Representatives and then moving to the Senate. He held leadership positions in each chamber. Before becoming president, he was Senate majority leader.
He lives in Napoleon with his wife and three children.
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This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and are published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication on other news outlets because it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.
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