IN AN unprecedented move, the Ohio Republican Party chose to endorse Vivek Ramaswamy for governor about a year before the party’s primary election for the position.

The party’s state central committee met Friday in Columbus behind closed doors to first debate whether it would endorse in the governor’s race, as well as for U.S. Senate, and then voted to support Ramaswamy for governor and Jon Husted for senator.

The endorsements are for the May 5, 2026, Republican primary. It is the earliest the state Republican Party has ever endorsed a non-incumbent for governor.

Also, unlike previous party meetings for endorsements, it was done in secret.

The vote in favor of endorsing was 51-13, more than the needed two-thirds majority. Ramaswamy won the endorsement 60-3 with one abstention.

Ramaswamy said Friday he was “honored to receive the official endorsement” of the party and “grateful for today’s supermajority vote from the Republican State Central Committee.”

Ramaswamy is a wealthy biotech entrepreneur who has the endorsement of President Donald Trump and other prominent national and statewide Republicans. Ramsawamy, who briefly ran for president, is seen as the clear frontrunner for governor.

Gov. Mike DeWine, who is hoping Jim Tressel, his lieutenant governor, runs for governor in 2026, had urged the party’s central committee to wait on an endorsement.

While in Youngstown on Thursday, he said, “It’s just early. I mean it’s just very, very early. This would be an unprecedented endorsement being this early. This is an endorsement that is a year away from the primary, let alone from the general election. We don’t really know who’s going to be in this race yet for governor.”

Tressel, who DeWine appointed three months ago, remains undecided on running for governor, but said that “many people are encouraging me to run.”

Tressel is a former Youngstown State University president and former head football coach at YSU and The Ohio State University. He won national championships at both schools.

DeWine said he’s had conversations with Tressel about running for governor, but wouldn’t disclose details of those discussions when asked Thursday.

DeWine said of Tressel: “I think he could serve exceedingly well as governor or I wouldn’t have appointed him as lieutenant governor.”

Attorney General Dave Yost, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor, didn’t attend Friday’s Republican meeting, instead going to the funeral of a retired Hamilton County sheriff’s deputy killed last week.

Emily Hottinger, Yost’s campaign manager, said Friday: “We congratulate Mr. Ramaswamy. The attorney general is going to take a few days to consult with key supporters about the path forward — but the people of Ohio deserve a choice, not a premature coronation of an untested candidate.”

The endorsement of Husted wasn’t controversial. In January, DeWine appointed Husted, his lieutenant governor at the time, to the Senate seat vacated by JD Vance, who left to start his term as vice president of the United States.

Ramaswamy said: “I am running to lead and improve the lives of all Ohioans, regardless of their race, gender, creed or partisan affiliation.”

Husted said: “Receiving the endorsement of the Ohio Republican Party — alongside President Trump’s recent endorsement — shows the strong momentum we’re building for the 2026 election.”

The only declared Democrat for governor is Dr. Amy Acton, a Youngstown native who became well known during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic as DeWine’s health director.