Ron DeSantis isn’t holding back. Speaking on the Sage Steele Show, the outgoing Florida governor dismantled the GOP’s strategy in Ohio, pointing a finger directly at Vivek Ramaswamy’s background. DeSantis argued that Ramaswamy’s identity as a biotech founder—specifically of Roivant Sciences—created an unbridgeable gap with the state’s working-class electorate. "I don't know why they would have pushed him to be the candidate there," DeSantis said. "Oh, my mom's from Youngstown. Ohio is a working class state, very blue collar. You know Vivek, he's like a tech guy."
The numbers back up DeSantis’s grievance. Ramaswamy lost the gubernatorial race to Democrat Amy Acton by 7.9 percentage points, a margin that stings even more given President Donald Trump’s personal endorsement and support from Vice President JD Vance’s inner circle. DeSantis zeroed in on Ramaswamy’s advocacy for a merit-based H-1B visa system, contrasting it with the blue-collar realities of Ohio. "He wants to bring in foreign workers on visas. That is not the type of person that's going to sell," DeSantis noted. The irony isn’t lost on critics; Ramaswamy’s own companies, including Roivant Sciences, had 29 H-1B applications approved between 2018 and 2023. Meanwhile, his co-founded investment firm, Strive Asset Management, moved its headquarters from Columbus to Dallas in 2025, just months before he launched his campaign.
The campaign’s missteps extended beyond policy. In the final weeks, Ramaswamy’s team released an attack ad featuring Acton’s estranged mother, labeling Acton a "liar" regarding her childhood poverty. The ad omitted critical context: Acton hadn’t spoken to her mother since age 12, and her stepfather had fled after being charged with raping her. Court records show authorities searched for him for years. This gaffe, combined with what DeSantis called Ramaswamy “shooting himself in the foot,” turned a competitive race into a landslide for the Democrats.
Ohio wasn’t the only red state bleeding red. Republican Senate candidate Jon Husted lost to Sherrod Brown by 4.9 points, a stark reversal from 2024 when Trump won the state by 11.2 points. DeSantis used these results to lampoon congressional Republicans for failing to codify Trump’s executive orders into law. "Last night's elections did not only kneecap the last two years of the Trump administration, it basically ensures the four years after that are going to either be Democrat years where they have a trifecta or where you have a Republican president that is hemmed in and limited," he warned.
DeSantis also deflected questions about a potential 2028 presidential bid, insisting he’d only run if he could “deliver big results.” "I don't want to just be a timepiece where I just sit there like a potted plant," he said. With the midterms now in the rearview mirror, the Republican Party faces an immediate reckoning: how to bridge the urban-suburban divide that just cost them two major races in the Rust Belt. The next test will be whether GOP leadership can pivot from defending the past to courting the voters they just lost.