Washington: Vivek Ramaswamy, the India-descent biotech entrepreneur, has thrown his hat into the ring for the US Senate seat that will fall vacant if former President Donald Trump wins the presidential polls, taking away its current occupant J.D. Vance, the Republican nominee for Vice-President.
“To be frank, I would strongly consider it if I were asked to serve,” Ramaswamy told NBC News.
“I have not discussed this with Governor DeWine, but, you know, I look forward to evaluating what the future holds in store. I would strongly consider it if asked,” he added.
Under US rules, Ohio Governor Mike DeWin will nominate someone to complete Vance’s six-year term that started in January 2023, after which that person will have to run for the seat or leave it for others to fight for it.
DeWine is a Republican like Vance and Ramaswamy is from Ohio state which Vance represents in the US Senate.
DeWine has said “it’s much too early” to name a replacement.
If DeWine picks him, Ramaswamy will become the only Indian-descent member of the current Senate and only the second of Indian-descent.
The first Indian American in the US Senate was Vice-President Kamala Harris. But when she was elected as V-P along with President Joe Biden, her Senate seat fell vacant and because she represented California in the Senate, it fell to the state’s Governor Gavin Newsom to name her replacement. Newsom picked Alex Padilla.
This practice landed a Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, in jail when he tried to auction the seat vacated by Senator Barack Obama on his election to the White House in 2008.
Ramaswamy may even land a position in a second Trump administration if the former President wins. He has impressed Trump with his complete embrace of the latter’s MAGA agenda and for forcefully defending him from attacks by critics such as former Governors Chris Christie and Nikki Haley during the Republican primaries; Trump had ignored the primaries while staying miles ahead in polls.
Ramaswamy had quit the race endorsing Trump and had been a part of the starting line of contenders who auditioned for the V-P slot on Trump ticket, but did not make it.
But Trump went on to indicate, according to reports, that if elected, he might name Ramaswamy to head the powerful Department of Homeland Security, which runs, among other things, the country’s immigration services.
So, even as he eyes Vance’s vacated Senate seat, Ramaswamy is keeping his options open.
“I would also want to have a serious conversation with President Trump about the other ways I could have an impact on the country,” he said, adding, “My top passion is taking on the regulatory state.”
He added, “There are ways to address that from the executive branch. Some things need to be done by Congress and the Senate too. So, I look forward to those conversations after President Trump is successfully reelected with J.D. Vance.”
–IANS