McColley runs for lieutenant governor on Ramaswamy ticket

Robert McColley, president of the Ohio Senate, is running for lieutenant governor as Vivek Ramaswamy's running mate on the Nov. 3 ballot.

Ramaswamy selected McColley as his running mate on Jan. 6, according to NBC News. McColley faces Democratic candidate David Pepper and Libertarian James L. Mills in the general election, according to BallotReady election data. McColley is certified for the ballot.

Candidate information

Full name: Robert McColley
Party: Republican
Date of birth: Oct. 14, 1984
Hometown: Napoleon, Ohio
Family: Wife Denise, daughter Anna and twin sons Matthew and Michael
Education: Bachelor's degree in finance, The Ohio State University (2007); law degree, University of Toledo (2010)
Faith: McColley describes himself as a man of deep Christian faith, according to his campaign website

Experience and public service

McColley has served in the Ohio legislature since 2015. He represented District 81 in the Ohio House of Representatives from 2015 to 2017. He served as assistant majority whip from 2016 to 2017. He moved to the Ohio Senate representing District 1 in 2017, according to his Ohio Senate biography.

He became majority leader in 2023. He was elected president of the Ohio Senate in 2025.

Before entering politics, McColley worked as an associate attorney at Hyre Legal Group from 2010 to 2011 and at Leatherman & Witzler from 2012 to 2013, according to BallotReady. He served as economic development director at the Henry County Community Improvement Corporation from 2013 to 2014. He has been of counsel at Clemens, Korhn, Liming & Warncke since 2015.

On the issues

The following positions come from the Ramaswamy-McColley campaign platform. They reflect the candidates' stated goals.

Taxes and budget: The ticket says it would immediately slash property taxes to protect families, seniors and homeowners. The campaign also says it would phase out the state income tax, starting with eliminating capital gains taxes.

Education: The campaign says it would raise academic standards with a focus on third-grade literacy, eighth-grade numeracy and 12th-grade civics. The ticket also says it would expand career-technical education and apprenticeships, reward top teachers with higher pay and give parents more control over their children's schooling through expanded transparency and school choice.

Criminal justice and public safety: The campaign says it would enforce stricter bail and sentencing for repeat violent offenders and empower local police and sheriffs. The ticket also says it would address severe psychiatric illness so officers can focus on fighting crime.

Energy: The campaign says it would expand natural gas and deploy new energy technologies to reduce electric bills. The ticket also says it would speed up energy project permits and cut regulations it considers unnecessary.

Economy: The campaign says it would reduce regulations that drive up costs and stall business growth and create more paths to homeownership and entrepreneurship.