COLUMBUS, Ohio – Former Ohio State football coach and current Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel said Friday he won’t run for Ohio governor in 2026, easing the path toward a Republican nomination for biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

A gubernatorial bid by Tressel on the GOP side could have shaken up a race that many have seen as a shoe-in for the Cincinnati-born Ramaswamy, who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump and the Ohio Republican Party.

Term-limited Republican Gov. Mike DeWine chose Tressel, 72, as his lieutenant governor to fill a vacant role in February.

Though Tressel was a political newcomer, he has lots of prior leadership experience as a championship-winning college football coach and as an administrator in higher education – plus star power among the state’s many Buckeye

See Full Page