J.D. Vance loans core advisers to boost Vivek Ramaswamy's Ohio governor bid: report
Vivek Ramaswamy's bid to become Ohio's next governor has the support of the Trump administration, NBC News reported Monday.
The billionaire entrepreneur, who recently left his post with Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is expected to announce his run next month. When he does, he'll have the power of the White House behind him, thanks to Vice President J.D. Vance "loaning out" his own top political advisers to boost Ramaswamy's campaign.
NBC News quoted an anonymous source who said Ramaswamy hired Vance's advisers following two weeks of conversations between the former Yale Law classmates.
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"The hirings also signal that Vance’s team, which overlaps in places with President Donald Trump’s, is fully behind Ramaswamy and that Vance himself is comfortable loaning out his advisers' talents to him," NBC News reported, adding, "For Vance, it’s an early flex of the political muscle that helped elevate him first to the Senate in his and Ramaswamy’s native Ohio and, most recently, to the vice presidency."
NBC News named Jai Chabria and Andy Surabian as two of Vance's advisers who are expected to come on board.
"Chabria, a longtime Republican operative in Ohio, will be the campaign’s general consultant. Surabian, a veteran of Trump’s earlier races who consulted on Sen. Bernie Moreno’s successful campaign last year in Ohio and is a senior political adviser to Donald Trump Jr., will oversee an outside political organization aligned with Ramaswamy," the report said.
Also expected to join Ramaswamy's campaign are Tony Fabrizio, "the pollster from Vance’s 2022 Senate bid who has worked on Trump’s campaigns," and Arthur Schwartz, "a close ally to Vance and Trump Jr."
Gov. Mike DeWine (R) is unable to run again after serving two terms as Ohio's governor. DeWine appointed Lt. Gov. John Husted (R) to fill Vance's vacated spot in the U.S. Senate, so he's out of the running, as well. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Ramaswamy's biggest competition in the Republican primary will be Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.