Mayer for Governor 2026
Together, we will bring more jobs, higher pay, and better government to Ohio once and for all.
MAJOR NEWS! After much thought and surveying of the landscape, I’ve decided to officially explore a run for Ohio governor in 2026. Wait, you may be saying, didn’t Mike DeWine and Jon Husted just get re-elected. Yes, they did, but nothing in their first term (or careers) indicates that their second term will be the bold, innovative term Ohio so desperately needs to escape the decades of mediocrity it has been wallowing in. As you can read in the detailed agenda posted at www.ohiomatt.com, I strongly believe Ohioans and their businesses need action on several fronts to make Ohio more like Florida and Texas and less like Illinois and New York. It shocks me — and should shock you — that after thirty years of largely Republican governors and legislatures, Ohio’s private sector remains in the bottom ten and its population growth is declining.
Ohio should be thriving and it would be had our elected officials put in place the bold policies I advocate for here.
My reasons for announcing this exploratory initiative so early are two fold: (1) Ohioans who support my agenda can use that agenda to hold the DeWine-Husted Administration and the Republican Supermajority General Assembly accountable for what they do and don’t do in the coming years, and (2) given the power of entrenched Establishment interests I will need plenty of time to gather the grassroots support and funding to run and win a Republican primary election. I’m not some political neophyte throwing a Hail Mary; rather, as my biography details, I’ve been in the trenches fighting the big policy battles my whole career and I’ve done it at the highest levels. The odds are stacked against me as an outsider, but I’ve raised millions of dollars over my career and been part of top national races in the past so I know what needs to be done.
I realize announcing so early and providing Ohioans with such a detailed agenda are unorthodox moves. I know the consultant class would tell me to wait until after the 2024 election and to only give Ohioans three ideas so I can’t be attacked on so many big, innovative ideas. They’d push me to use the same three “safe,” monotonous ideas Jon Husted, Dave Yost, or Keith Faber will run on. I'll leave safe and cliche to the men who have spent careers as politicians and who will have played musical chairs with statewide offices for sixteen years by 2026.
The consultant class just might be right—though we know how often they are wrong—but my gut tells me I will need time to build a winning movement and, more importantly, you deserve to know exactly what I plan to do to fix Ohio and make it the envy of the other forty-nine states. Let me be clear. If our agenda gets implemented in the next four years, I will gladly remain outside of government. If, however, the political class continues to fiddle while most of Ohio burns, then I’ll be forced to take action. My final decision will be based solely on whether I can raise the funds and build the movement to win the Republican primary.
If you want more of the status quo that has Ohio at the back of the pack, then I’m not your guy. The musical chair men will gladly take your vote. If, however, you are looking for someone who will fight the big fights and paint with Ronald Reagan’s bold colors, then I’m your guy. Read my comprehensive plan to renew Ohio and, if you like what you see, join my team at www.ohiomatt.com and please forward this note to other Ohioans you think might want to join us.
Together, we will bring more jobs, higher pay, and better government to Ohio once and for all.
Matt Mayer
Mayer for Governor 2026