Former Ohio State football coach and now Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel, left, with Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, right. (Photo provided by Ohio governor’s office.)
Ohio Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel announced on X Friday afternoon that after much “considerable thought and prayer,” he won’t be part of the 2026 race for governor in the Buckeye State.
“It has been an extraordinary honor of a lifetime for Ellen and me to serve alongside Gov. Mike Dewine and First Lady Fran DeWine,” Tressel wrote in the post. “After considerable thought and prayer, we have decided not to run for Governor in 2026.”
Tressel said he will focus the remainder of his term on giving his full attention to education and workforce issues in Ohio.
Tressel’s decision opens up a more straightforward path through the GOP primary for Vivek Ramaswamy, who clinched the Ohio party leadership’s nomination for governor in May.
As things stand, he’s on track to face Democrat Amy Acton in the general election next November.
Earlier this summer, Ramaswamy sat down with News 5’s John Kosich to about about his vision for Ohio in 2026 and beyond.
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on X and Facebook.
This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.
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