Ohio lawmakers are weighing two bills that would legalize online casino gambling across the state. Whoever is governor next year may be handed one of them to sign or veto.
On September 3, 2026, Statehouse News Bureau chief Karen Kasler asked the Republican nominee for governor where he stands. She did not leave the money out of the question.
"Where are you on expanded gambling? Since actually gambling interests have been donating to get you elected."
Vivek Ramaswamy did not say.
"I'm going to take a fresh look and a fresh perspective to this whole discussion."
He talked about listening to lawmakers on both sides. He said he wanted to protect young Ohioans from addiction. He never said whether he supports legalizing online casino gambling.
The money
The Sports Betting Alliance has given $650,000 to V-PAC: Victors, Not Victims, the super PAC formed by Ramaswamy allies to elect him governor. It came in two pieces: $500,000 in 2025 and another $150,000 in January 2026, according to federal filings reviewed by Signal Ohio.
The money did not go to his campaign directly, and federal law bars a super PAC from coordinating its spending with a candidate. That is the technical answer, and it is true.
It is also not the point. The people paying for the ads that elect him want a specific thing from the office he is running for, and he will not tell voters whether he intends to give it to them.
Who the Sports Betting Alliance is
This is not a group with a general interest in Ohio policy. Its members are Bet365, BetMGM, DraftKings, Fanatics and FanDuel, and it exists to expand legal online sports betting and online casino gaming.
It has already come to Columbus to ask for exactly that. In May 2025, alliance representative Scott Ward testified to the Ohio House Finance Committee.
"I am here in support of legalization of igaming in Ohio."
The pitch was the usual one: consumer protections, pulling gamblers off illegal sites, more tax money for the state.
The bills are real and they are pending
Two competing proposals are live in the Ohio General Assembly:
- House Bill 298 would legalize and regulate internet gambling and tax the companies offering it.
- Senate Bill 197 would legalize internet gambling and also allow internet lottery games and online betting on horse races.
Neither has passed. If one does during the next governor's term, it lands on that governor's desk.
So this is not a hypothetical about a distant issue. It is a decision the next governor could well be asked to make, on behalf of an industry that has already put $650,000 into electing one of the candidates.
He has had months
This is not the first time he has been asked. Signal Ohio reported in April 2026 that Ramaswamy had taken no public position on sports betting while the gambling money was flowing into V-PAC. His spokesperson didn't respond to that request for comment either. His campaign did not respond to TiffinOhio.net for this story.
The September interview was the clean opportunity — on camera, with the donations named out loud in the question. He promised a fresh look.
What he says about candidates who won't answer
Earlier in that same interview, Ramaswamy made a point of saying this:
"I do think it's really important that candidates actually take voter questions and tell the voters where we're at."
He said that, and then declined to tell voters where he's at.
The pattern is documented. He spent months refusing to state positions until a newsroom badgered him into one answer. The same super PAC taking the gambling money is funded largely by five men who don't live in Ohio. And when he promised Ohioans free electricity, energy-industry PACs had just given his campaign $97,000.
The short version
The gambling industry's trade group has put $650,000 into the super PAC working to make Vivek Ramaswamy governor of Ohio, while two bills to legalize online casino gambling sit in the legislature awaiting a governor's signature. Asked on camera where he stands, with the donations named in the question, he would not say. In the same interview he said it was "really important" that candidates tell voters where they stand.
Source
- Bonnie Lucas, Ramaswamy dodges gambling question after industry money backs his campaign, TiffinOhio.net (September 5, 2026). Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr.
