Vice President JD Vance won one of Ohio’s U.S. Senate seats in 2022 with the help of a $10 million contribution from a billionaire megadonor.
Vivek Ramaswamy, who is the GOP’s frontrunner in the 2026 race for Ohio governor, is already getting a similar financial boost, according to a new federal campaign finance filing.
Jeff Yass, of the Philadelphia area, gave $10 million in March to Victors not Victims, a political action committee that Ramaswamy’s allies formed to support his campaign for governor. The group, also referred to as VPAC, is what is known as a Super PAC, a type of campaign committee that is allowed to accept unlimited amounts of money but is prohibited from coordinating activities with any candidate’s official campaign.
The contribution from Yass, who made his money in finance, is reminiscent of the major financial support California billionaire and Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel gave to a Super PAC backing JD Vance 2022 bid for the U.S. Senate. Thiel initially gave the pro-Vance Super PAC $10 million, helping Vance win a crowded Republican primary election, before eventually increasing his overall support to $15 million. Vance has since been elected vice president.
The seven-figure contributions from Yass and Thiel reflect the greater role megadonors are playing in politics in general across the political spectrum. They also underscore how Super PACs, a common element in federal election playbooks, increasingly are used in Ohio elections. Such political spending has exploded in the United States since Citizens United, the seminal 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision that eliminated limitations on certain types of political contributions.
Ramaswamy holds ‘massive’ financial advantage in governor’s race
Overall, Victors not Victims raised $16.8 million in the first half of 2025, according to a filing the Super PAC made on Wednesday morning with the U.S. Federal Election Commission. This includes another eye-popping contribution: $5 million from Ross Stevens, a New York City financier.
The PAC has roughly $13 million in cash after spending more than $3 million on ads backing Ramaswamy’s campaign, its report says.
“These fundraising numbers show that the momentum behind Vivek’s campaign to turn Ohio into a state of excellence is massive,” said Andy Surbian, chief strategist to VPac. “We are confident that we will have all the resources necessary to ensure Vivek is successful next November.”
Ramaswamy is expected to report his latest gubernatorial campaign fundraising figures to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office soon. All state candidates are required to document their contributions received between January 1 through June 30 before the end of the business day on Thursday.
Ramaswamy’s campaign has said he raised $9.7 million in the first half of 2025. This doesn’t include personal funds Ramaswamy may invest in his campaign, his campaign has said. Ramaswamy is a billionaire entrepreneur and previously spent $30 million of his own money running for president in 2024.
In contrast, Amy Acton, the only declared Democratic candidate for governor, has announced that her campaign raised $1.35 million during the first six months of 2025, a relatively strong number for an Ohio Democrat. Like Ramaswamy, Acton at the time this article published hadn’t yet filed her official state campaign finance report that’s due on Thursday. Ramaswamy and Acton are running to replace Gov. Mike DeWine, who will leave office at the end of 2026 because of term limits.
Ramaswamy’s enormous fundraising has little precedent and is among the reasons Democrats are hoping a more experienced fundraiser jumps in the race. Former U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, who was long among Ohio’s top fundraisers, is considering running for governor. Brown is also considering trying to make a comeback in the U.S. Senate by challenging Republican Sen. Jon Husted in next year’s election.
Yass supports private school vouchers, helped oust Republican Ohio House speaker last year
Yass’s $10 million contribution to the pro-Ramaswamy group earlier this year isn’t his first foray into Ohio politics. In 2024, he and his wife helped back several Republican Ohio House candidates as part of a broader political fight that eventually ousted Jason Stephens as Ohio House speaker. That effort led to now-House Speaker Matt Huffman victory.
Yass and another group that was part of the anti-Stephens coalition are major supporters of expanding government spending on private education.
Yass is worth an estimated $59 billion, according to Forbes. He made his fortune after founding an investment and finance firm. He spent $100 million on political spending ahead of the 2024 election, all of which went to support conservative causes, according to Open Secrets. His holdings include a multi-billion dollar investment in Bytedance, the parent company of the social media app TikTok.
