# DeSantis Says Ramaswamy Was a 'Tech Guy' Not 'in Tune' With Ohio's Blue-Collar Voters After 7.9-Point Loss, Fox News Reports

On the Sage Steele Show, the Florida governor said he does not know why Ohio Republicans pushed Ramaswamy, faulted his H-1B stance, and said Congress should have written Trump's executive orders into law. He also said he would run for office only to deliver big results.

- Section: [Politics](https://rightnewsrightnow.com/politics/)
- Published: 2026-11-06
- By: RightNewsRightNow Staff
- Canonical page: https://rightnewsrightnow.com/articles/desantis-ramaswamy-tech-guy-not-in-tune-blue-collar-ohio-acton-7-9-points-h1b-sage-steele-fox-news/

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has blamed Ohio Republicans for choosing Vivek Ramaswamy, Fox News reports, saying the party picked the wrong kind of candidate for a blue-collar state.

The loss. Ramaswamy lost the Ohio governor's race to Democrat Amy Acton by 7.9 percentage points, Fox says, despite a Trump endorsement and help from advisers close to Vice President JD Vance. In the Senate race, Republican Jon Husted lost to Democrat Sherrod Brown by 4.9 points. Fox notes Trump carried Ohio by 11.2 points two years ago.

What DeSantis said. On the Sage Steele Show, DeSantis said he did not know why Republicans "would have pushed him to be the candidate there." Noting his mother is from Youngstown, he said Ohio is a "very blue collar" state and that Ramaswamy is "like a tech guy." He said he knows Ramaswamy "shot himself in the foot" but that the party "would have done better in Ohio had we had a candidate that was more representative or more in tune" with blue-collar voters.

The H-1B point. DeSantis said Ramaswamy's support for a merit-based H-1B visa system hurt him: "He wants to bring in foreign workers on visas. That is not the type of person that's going to sell." Fox says Ramaswamy called the current lottery system something that should be "gutted," and that his company Roivant Sciences had 29 H-1B applications approved between 2018 and 2023. Fox also notes that Strive Asset Management, which he co-founded, moved its headquarters from Columbus to Dallas in 2025. Ramaswamy says he is no longer involved in its operations.

The campaign. Fox recalls that weeks before the vote, Ramaswamy's campaign drew bipartisan criticism for an ad using Acton's estranged mother to call her a "liar." The ad left out that Acton had not seen or spoken to her mother since age 12.

On Congress and 2028. DeSantis said Republicans are now "on the defensive" and faulted Congress for not codifying Trump's executive orders. He said the election results leave the next four years after this term as either Democratic trifecta years or a Republican president who is "hemmed in and limited." Asked about 2028, he said he would run for any office only "if you can actually deliver big results."

Why it matters here. Republicans are now arguing over who is to blame for the losses. This is a sitting governor, widely discussed as a 2028 name, criticizing a fellow Republican and the party's choice.

What we could not check. We did not hear the podcast and rely on Fox's quotes. Fox says it asked Ramaswamy for comment and shows no reply. We did not verify the H-1B filings, the headquarters move or the margins.

## Source

Original reporting: [Fox News](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/desantis-nukes-tech-guy-vivek-ohio-drubbing-not-tune-blue-collar-voters)