Vivek Ramaswamy told a packed Turning Point USA crowd at Mershon Auditorium on Tuesday night that he would abolish Ohio’s income tax and cut property taxes if he is elected governor, casting the pitch as a way to bring jobs and lower bills back to the state. He drew in hundreds for an appearance that moved from taxes to immigration and then, after his opening speech, onto a staged conversation with Fox & Friends host Lawrence Jones.
Ramaswamy said, “By the end of 2027, high-paying jobs will be moving back to Ohio because we’re ending capital gains taxation and eventually income taxation in the state.” He also said, “Your electric bills will be lower because we’re producing more energy right here in our home state. You should keep that money, put it back to live your life.”
The event, put on by the Ohio State chapter of Turning Point USA, was built around the same mix of issues Ramaswamy has made central to his campaign for Ohio governor: taxes, affordability and immigration. Savannah Chrisley introduced him before he took the stage, and Laine Schoneberger opened the program at 6:50 p.m. on behalf of sponsor Yrefy, saying government waste was the main driver of debt in the U.S. and proposing that government oversight be removed from lending entirely.
After his remarks, Ramaswamy invited Jones onto the stage for a discussion of AI, faith and what Jones described as the conservative solution to the affordability problem. The exchange kept the audience inside the same political lane for the night, but the crowd also made room for challenge. Kenny Wong pressed Ramaswamy on how he accumulated his wealth, while Ashton Kennedy criticized the Trump administration’s border and immigration policies and Ramaswamy’s support for them.
Ramaswamy answered Kennedy by agreeing with the deportation of undocumented immigrants, underscoring how firmly the event stayed on the hard-line side of the immigration debate. The appearance, with Jones, Chrisley and Schoneberger all on the program, was less a campaign rally than a conservative showcase built around the arguments Ramaswamy is taking into the primary: lower taxes, cheaper energy and stricter immigration policy. For Ohio Republicans deciding whether he is a businessman promising to remake the state or simply another candidate riding national conservative themes, Tuesday night offered the clearest version yet of his pitch.
