Washington: Republican Vivek Ramaswamy is locked in a close contest with Democrat Amy Acton in the Ohio gubernatorial race, with a recent opinion poll giving the Indian-American entrepreneur a narrow three-point lead over his rival. If Ramaswamy wins the November 3 election, he will become the third person of Indian descent to serve as a US governor, after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Nikki Haley of South Carolina.

Endorsed by US President Donald Trump last year, the 41-year-old Ramaswamy entered the race to become Ohio's governor as a clear favourite but is now facing a stiff challenge from Acton, the former state health chief.

However, Ramaswamy's campaign has faced challenges. In July, his attempt to engage with college students in Ohio ended in a setback when a right-wing crowd booed and heckled him over his "winners versus whiners" speech, forcing him off the stage. "Are you in the camp of people in this country who want to win? Or are you in the camp of people who want to whine?" he asked the young audience, which responded with boos and heckling, forcing him to "peace out". A CNN-SSRS poll conducted between September 29 and October 5 gave Acton an eight-point lead over Ramaswamy in Ohio, a state last won by a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Ted Strickland, in 2006.

However, an ActiVote survey conducted between September 27 and October 19 put Ramaswamy three points ahead of Acton. Prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket on Monday gave Acton a 70 per cent chance of winning the gubernatorial race, compared with 31 per cent for Ramaswamy. Born in Cincinnati on August 9, 1985, Ramaswamy traces his roots to Palakkad in Kerala, from where his parents moved to the US. Raised in Ohio, he was an accomplished pianist, a nationally ranked tennis player and a millionaire by the time he graduated from Yale Law School in 2013. Ramaswamy launched his presidential campaign in 2023 but withdrew after a poor showing in the Iowa Republican caucuses and endorsed Trump. Following Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election, Ramaswamy and billionaire Elon Musk were appointed to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Ramaswamy subsequently stepped away from the initiative to announce his bid for Ohio governor, with Trump's backing.

With the contest tightening, Trump and Vice President JD Vance have visited Ohio several times to shore up Republican support in the state. Vance is scheduled to campaign in Cincinnati on Wednesday, marking his second election rally in the state within a fortnight. Trump won Ohio in all three presidential elections he contested, in 2016, 2020 and 2024. The state has never elected a woman governor and has also voted against Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris.