GOP candidate shows off a Christian
The 2026 race for governor made its first major stop in Cleveland this week.
GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, a wealthy businessman from the Columbus area who’s already locked up the Republican Party nomination ahead of the primary, used an event at Windows on the River in the Flats Wednesday to formally introduce his running mate, Ohio Senate President Rob McColley.
The Trump-backed Ramaswamy already enjoys vibrant support in Northeast Ohio, in part because he was running for governor before he was actually running for governor. McColley, however, is not as known outside his rural Northwest Ohio district, and his Statehouse name recognition fades north of Mansfield. So, it made sense to introduce him to a new GOP audience in Cleveland. Ramaswamy and his supporters said McColley brings legislative acumen to the ticket.
He also brings something else: Christian bona fides, a point that the event seemed designed to underscore – perhaps to push back on the “identity politics” used by right-wing critics who have tried to make an issue out of Ramaswamy’s Hindu faith.
Ramaswamy, for instance, invited Pastor Jeff Tauring of Northfield’s evangelical Liberty Valley Church to give the opening prayer. Tauring asked, with the fervor of a Sunday homily, that God bless Ramaswamay and his team and help them “through your providence make America great again.”
Ramaswamy also invited Aaron Baer, president of Center for Christian Virtue, whose anti-LGBTQ+ views have made him a lightning rod for controversy surrounding his upcoming speech at the City Club of Cleveland.
“Vivek and I are of different faiths, but he understands how important Christians are to the future of Ohio,” Baer said.
After attacking Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dr. Amy Acton – who named David Pepper, a former Ohio Democratic Party chair, as her running mate earlier that day – McColley spoke of his faith.
“I’m a man of deep Christian faith and that deep Christian faith drives me,” he said, noting that Ramaswamy is also guided by faith.
So, how did the messaging go over with the audience?
Republican Mike Peters of Parma said he’s pleased with the ticket because McColley “balances things out” with more than geographic diversity.
“We need a Christian on the ticket,” he said.
Council comeuppance
Cleveland City Council welcomed three new members this week – Nikki Hudson, Austin Davis and Tanmay Shah – who joined a leaner 15-member body.
Like their colleagues on Monday night, they each got the opportunity to speak and introduce themselves in front of family and friends and the reporters who ttrudged to the second floor of City Hall.
Shah — who represents Edgewater, Cudell and other neighborhoods on the West Side in Ward 12 – took the most advantage of the spotlight with an opening line that was more politically charged than anyone else’s comments, though few reporters took note.
Referring to his boisterous supporters in attendance, Shah said, “Good evening and welcome to the people’s hall. You have heard from us for quite a bit. Let me hear from you now – Free, free, free Palestine.”
His backers shouted back, “Free, free, free Palestine.”
Shah, an attorney and democratic socialist, demonstrated in Cleveland against the Israel-Hamas war, including at council during the height of the fighting in Gaza.
During the March 4, 2024, council meeting’s public comments period, Shah mocked Council President Blaine Griffith. Shah took issue with his refusal to back a resolution in support of Palestine and those killed in the war, which was set off by a Hamas terrorist attack in Israel that triggered a robust military response that left tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza dead.
“Your courageous and brave actions of staunchly defending a genocide deserves a round of applause,” Shah said.
He then warned that council’s inaction would draw retribution. (A few weeks later, council passed a ceremonial resolution supporting a ceasefire in Gaza.)
Shah used his comments at City Hall and protests elsewhere against the war to fuel grassroots support, but he didn’t campaign widely on it. He instead calibrated a message about affordability and improving city services that was more in line with the ward’s constituents, who include low-income residents and people who live in Edgewater mansions.
He won by just nine votes, defeating incumbent Danny Kelly, a retired laborer. But Monday, back before Griffin, this time as a colleague, Shah delivered his “Free Palestine” line as perhaps an intentional reminder of his earlier comments. Shah used the rest of his speech to speak kindly of his family and hope for the ward. (Shah did not respond to a request for comment about his speech.)