Ramaswamy brings large crowd and tight security to Brick Street campaign rally

Less than a month before Election Day, hundreds of students and community members gathered at Brick Street for a rally for Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

The event began at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 15 and was a collaboration between Ramaswamy’s campaign and the Miami University College Republicans (MUCRs), who brought Ramaswamy and several other speakers together in an effort to encourage voter participation among young people ahead of the extremely contested gubernatorial between Ramaswamy and Dr. Amy Acton.

The event started with a montage of video clips of the late podcaster and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who emphasized the importance of voter turnout and sung praises toward the candidate. Ramaswamy, who was featured in several of the videos and was a close friend of Kirk, would later begin his speech by praising Kirk’s philosophy of “chasing every ballot” in elections.

The first remarks were given by Drew Belcher, the president of the MUCRs, who, against a backdrop of classic rock music, emphasized the importance of voting and making your voice heard on Election Day.

“[You guys] need to get up, get your friends together and vote Republican down the slate,” Belcher said.

Following Belcher were remarks by Zach Haines, a Republican candidate for Ohio state senator. A current member of the Miami University Board of Trustees, Haines received roaring applause after calling Brick Street “the best college bar in the country.”

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Haines made the first criticism of Acton in his speech and said she was hostile toward the press during an event Acton hosted at Ohio State University (OSU) a day earlier, which was closed to the media, according to WOSU. This was brought up multiple times by Ramaswamy himself during the event, where he said Acton was hostile toward debate and even banned phones during the rally.

The final guest to speak before the candidate was Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight fighter Bo Nickal, who came on stage to cheers from the audience and praised Ramaswamy before announcing a new fight in Cleveland in the coming months.

Ramaswamy was greeted by thunderous applause when he arrived on stage, with the crowd swelling to nearly 350 people, according to official estimates by Brick Street and the MUCRs.

Among the crowd was a team of almost two dozen strong security personnel and police, who cordoned off large sections of the bar and led patrons through metal detectors upon entry. The outside and upper sections of the bar were all closed, and IDs were not checked at the door, making the bar devoid of its usual neon 21-and-up wristbands.

Sean McGlynn

Police officers watch Vivek Ramaswamy’s speech inside Brick Street in Oxford.

Ramaswamy’s prepared remarks were short, but fiery, establishing a distinct focus on rebuilding the American dream for young people and transforming the state through conservative values. He continued to emphasize that voter turnout was the only way to make that possible.

“I want every young person in this audience to have a path to achieve even bigger things than I did by staying right here in the state of Ohio,” Ramaswamy said. “This is the greatest country known in the history of mankind … We will not apologize for who we are, and we’re going to fight for this country.”

Ramaswamy referenced the tradition of presidents and leaders hailing from Ohio, and said a return to conservative values would set the country back toward that direction.

“I will be the most conservative governor this state has ever seen in our history,” Ramaswamy said. “... I’m not asking for the vote of people who have a different worldview. If you believe there’s 75 genders rather than two, I’m not going to tell you to vote for me because we have a different worldview.”

Ramaswamy then opened the floor to questions, which touched on several key issues affecting young people. The discourse was incredibly civil. Although the questions were selected by going through the crowd randomly, there was limited dissent with any of the speakers’ points.

The first question focused on his proposal for merit-based teacher pay. Ramaswamy argued that Ohio’s current system prevents high-performing teachers from advancing, and he said he wants principals to have more authority in determining salaries.

“We need the best teachers to be able to get ahead,” he said, adding that the roughly $38,000 starting salary in Ohio is “not attractive to many people.”

He also talked about parental responsibility, saying that parents play a key role in education and that teachers can only do so much, especially in districts facing chronic absenteeism.

A later question on gun rights prompted one of the night’s strongest responses. Ramaswamy pledged to expand Second Amendment protections if elected.

“[I will be] the most pro-Second Amendment governor we have ever seen,” he said.

Ramaswamy criticized existing age restrictions on handgun purchases and expressed his outrage that 18-year-olds could serve in the military, but not purchase handguns. Currently in Ohio, 18 year olds can purchase rifles and other guns, but have to be 21 to purchase smaller guns, due to their concealable nature.

Two students also asked questions about religious education in public, centering on what this would look like in regard to his Hindu faith. He said the teaching would be based on shared civic and moral values rather than promoting any specific religion.

There was no discussion of Acton’s alleged drug or alcohol abuse during the event, which had become a trademark of Ramaswamy’s campaign ads. Most of the criticism focused on her unwillingness to debate Ramaswamy and handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as the former director of the Ohio Department of Health.

Although the event only lasted a little over an hour, most patrons said they were happy with the event and the opportunity to engage with conservative politics.

“It’s good to see people here, it’s good to see representation for conservative politics at Miami,” said Adam Barnett, a first-year at the event.

However, not everybody that attended the event was there in support. A small group of protesters organized by the Miami University College Democrats (MUCD) stood outside the fence at the event holding signs denouncing the event and supporting Acton. Two members of the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) also said they were kicked out of the event.

Ramaswamy ended the event by praising God, the state of Ohio and the role voters play in the state’s future.

“If you all do your part, I swear to you, then my family and I, we will stop at nothing,” Ramaswamy said. “I will visit all 88 counties of the state as many times as is required”

martino9@miamioh.edu