WCPO · Tanya O'Rourke · September 8, 2026
anchors 'WCPO 9 News' weekdays and weeknights and reports on news and issues across the area. Have a story you'd like Tanya to cover or a news tip? Reach out to her at torourke@wcpo.com.
EVENDALE, Ohio -- Vivek Ramaswamy and his wife, Apoorva, are opening up about their life together as the Republican candidate campaigns for Ohio governor.
I sat down with the couple at Evendale Elementary, where Ramaswamy attended grade school, to get to know them on a more personal level.
Vivek Ramaswamy and wife talk family and Ohio governor's race
The two met at a party while in graduate school.
"So we met at a party in grad school. I was in law school my second year before I was just starting med school, and we met at a friend's apartment," Ramaswamy said. "Yeah, yeah. The rest is history. We knew. We pretty much knew."
The Ramaswamys have been married for 11 years. Apoorva is a surgeon at The James at Ohio State University. They have 3 children -- two boys, 6 and 4, and a 6-month-old baby girl.
When asked how two extremely successful people make a marriage work, Apoorva said the key is being on the same team.
"I think it's just, we are so much on each other's team. His goals are my goals. My goals are his goals, and we're just doing this together, and I think it's just one big adventure, and I think that works," Apoorva said.
Vivek Ramaswamy is a businessman who burst onto the political scene in 2023 when he announced he was running for president. When asked whether she knew what she was signing up for when she married him, Apoorva said she always knew he was driven.
"You, you can never know exactly what, but I knew that he was always just the most passionate person I've ever met," Apoorva said.
"And I knew that he's going to do something, and it's probably going to be something interesting," Apoorva said.
Ramaswamy grew up in Evendale and was valedictorian at St. Xavier High School. His parents still live there. We tagged along as he took his sons for haircuts at the barbershop where he got his hair cut throughout his childhood.
When asked whether he always knew politics were in his future, Ramaswamy said civic impact was always on his mind.
"Not definitely the politics per se, but the idea of having an impact, a civic impact on our country was absolutely on my mind," Ramaswamy said.
Apoorva made the case for why her husband should be Ohio's next governor.
"I have never met someone who thinks more clearly, who is more principled while being extremely practical and actually gets things done," Apoorva said.
"And he's just really, really special in that way, and I'm so grateful that he's turned his attention to these set of problems because you know our kids' education, ability for people like my patients to be able to pay for their healthcare bills, to be able to pay for food, that is such a big problem facing everyone in our state," Apoorva said.
When asked whether she lets herself think about what the next four years could look like, Apoorva said she takes life as it comes.
"You know, every four years so far in our lives have been so different. Think about it. Four years ago, we had, our younger son was just being born, so everything changes no matter what, and you just have to be grateful to God and trust that we'll be able to face whatever challenges we have," Apoorva said.
Democrat Dr. Amy Acton is also running for governor. We requested a similar interview with Acton and her husband, but that was not possible.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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