Records show Ohio governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy dropped $780K on private jet flights last year

Campaign expenditure filings for Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy show that the Republican spent more than $780,000 on private jet travel in 2025.

A Heartland Signal analysis of Ramaswamy’s expenditures filed through the Secretary of State’s Office show that the candidate spent $469,885.45 on aircraft leasing and $312,264.21 in costs associated with flying his own jet.

Total spending on private air travel: $782,149.66

According to his campaign, no donor funds were used for these expenses, and the entrepreneur donated his own money to cover the costs.

“Vivek personally owns an aircraft, which the campaign uses for travel to efficiently reach voters across all 88 counties,” a spokesperson told Heartland Signal via email. “To comply with federal and state law, the campaign is required to lease the plane at market rates in order to use it to meet voters. No donor funds were used for these expenses — Vivek personally loaned the campaign money to cover every dollar paid to lease the airplane for the campaign.”

Ramaswamy’s campaign spent a total of $7,126,693.93 in 2025, making 10.97% of his total spending went to private jet travel. The former biotech pharmaceutical executive spent $10,721.97 more on private jet travel while campaigning in Ohio — the 34th largest state in the U.S. in square miles — than U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) spent on all air travel (public and private) during his Fighting Oligarchy Tour last year, during which he visited 29 cities across the country.

Last November, Forbes reported Ramaswamy’s net worth grew by 80% from March 2025-November 2025, increasing from just over $1 billion to $1.8 billion while he campaigned to become Ohio’s next governor. While running for president in 2024, Ramaswamy infused $30.7 million of his own money into his campaign. The 40-year-old generated immense wealth through biotech startups in the 2010s, some of which failed to meet promised expectations.

Katie Seewer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party, says Ramaswamy’s private jet travel shows that he’s out of touch with many Ohioans.

“Vivek Ramaswamy joyrides around Ohio in his private jet as hardworking Ohio families struggle to keep up with surging costs, and under his plan they’d pay even more,” Seewer said. “It’s exactly what you’d expect from someone who calls workers lazy, tells struggling families to just earn more, and says rising costs are just in Ohioans’ imagination.”

Ramaswamy’s affordability record

Ramaswamy has made several controversial statements about Ohioans in recent years. Before launching his campaign, Ramaswamy made a post on X in December 2024 arguing that the reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born and first-generation engineers is because “our culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence.”

The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over “native” Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture. Tough questions demand tough answers & if…

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 26, 2024

The former Republican presidential candidate also said one of the best ways to combat child hunger is to teach children to read faster.

Ramaswamy also suggested that increasing take home pay is the number one way Ohioans can combat rising costs, and that he plans to accomplish this by slashing property and income taxes.

The affordability plan for Dr. Amy Acton, Ramaswamy’s likely Democratic opponent in this year’s election, includes holding companies accountable for price gouging and ensuring Ohioans do not pay higher energy bills when tech companies build data centers.

Ohio’s primary elections will be held on May 5, where Acton and Ramaswamy are expected to advance to the Nov. 3 general election in what is projected to be the most expensive gubernatorial race in state history.

Republicans have controlled Ohio’s governorship and state legislature since 2011, and the state has steadily fallen in education rankings, while economic policies have generally favored the wealthiest individuals during that time. Cook Political Report currently rates the Ohio governor race as “Likely Republican.”