Earlier this week, Casey Putsch (pictured above) announced he is challenging the GOP frontrunner in the May primary, declaring, "My campaign fills a clear and urgent need for an alternative in this race."
"Republicans across Ohio are looking for a candidate who respects the working class and upholds American cultural values, not one who shows contempt for them," he said.
Tom Zawistowski, president of the We the People Convention and the Ohio Citizens PAC, never heard of Putsch before this announcement.
"It looks like he's a fairly successful person," Zawistowski gathers. "He's from a part of the state that is pretty remote in Northwest Ohio. But unless he's got millions and millions of dollars, he's going to have no name recognition. That's the problem. Who's got a bigger social media footprint than Vivek Ramaswamy?"
He points out that the 2024 presidential candidate has national name recognition and the ability to fund his own campaign.
Linda Harvey, president of Columbus-based Mission: America, agrees that is a problem for Putsch.
"I asked around a couple of the people that should know, and nobody had heard of him," she relays. "At this point, it doesn't sound like he's going to be an independent. He says he wants to represent the working guy. It doesn't look like he has any political background, and again, no one has heard of him in a political sense."
Putsch, an automotive industry entrepreneur often referred to online as "Casey the Car Guy," is one of several declared candidates in the 2026 Ohio gubernatorial race, which has an open seat because current Governor Mike DeWine (R) is term limited. He brands himself as an "America First" candidate focused on working-class Ohioans and traditional American cultural values.
He has criticized Ramaswamy and other establishment figures for being out of touch with everyday Ohioans on key issues like immigration and labor.
Harvey does not see him as a significant challenger for Vivek Ramaswamy.
