COLUMBUS, Ohio — Appalachian businesswoman and political newcomer Heather Hill has jumped headfirst into the Ohio governor’s race, running to secure the Republican nomination in 2026. She believes she has a unique perspective and would bring diversity to the highest office in the state.
"We need something different, we need someone better, we need someone that will literally fight for us," Hill told me during a one-on-one interview.
She brings something new to the table, she said, noting that she is a Black woman from Appalachia. She lives in rural Morgan County, which has a population of less than 15,000 people. She’s a small business owner and former Morgan Local School District board president.
She was inspired to run out of a family tragedy, she said. Two of her foster children were shot and killed by police in two separate instances, she said. The respective police officers in each case, one in Columbus and the other in Blendon Township, had both been indicted on murder charges. Both officers pleaded not guilty, and the cases are ongoing.
"I started having a lot of people ask me if I'd be interested in running for office to try to bridge the gaps between law enforcement and our people with mental illness in Ohio," she said. "I accepted the challenge, and I'm going to work my butt off to make sure that Ohioans are represented in everything that we do in Ohio."
In our interview, Hill told me about her campaign, why voters should choose her, and her goals for the state.
"We really have to sit down and look at how things are affecting our families, how things are affecting our kids, how things are affecting our grandchildren, and we have to figure out what is going to be the best — and we have to figure this out together," she said.
What would Ohio look like under Hill?
We went through the major issues.
On the topic of reproductive healthcare, she said that she is listening to Ohioans.
"I am 100% against abortion unless it is a medical necessity or in some kind of special instance, but I will 100% uphold everything that the voters have voted for," she said.
When it comes to marijuana, she said she wants to look into it more.
"I really believe there needs to be more research," she said. "We need to kind of button things down and make things tighter around marijuana, and that's one thing that I see our current administration doing."
On redistricting reform, she aligns with Gov. Mike DeWine. The governor has requested that the lawmakers adopt the Iowa plan to prevent gerrymandering.
"I am really starting to dig into what Iowa's doing, and they have some great framework that we can use, and they make that very public and they're willing to to sit down and meet with people," she said.
Another similarity with DeWine, she would also make education a focus of her administration.
"I believe education is our future," she said. "As a child that grew up in Appalachia and also had a learning disability, I completely understand how important and how vital it is to be educated, so that we can literally pull ourselves up by our bootstraps."
Some GOP leaders want to cut public school funding and prioritize sending state dollars to private schools. Hill seemed to support a new school funding system to help public schools, adding that some taxes from cannabis sales could be useful. However, she leans towards the private school voucher system, often referred to by Republicans as school choice.
"We need to give parents the opportunity to make choices that are in their child's best interest," she said. "I believe that we need to give parents more opportunities, everything that they need to make informed decisions about what's going to be best for their children."
Primary
Hill is facing off against two big names — businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who already received the coveted endorsement from President Donald Trump, and Attorney General Dave Yost, who has worked in politics for decades. There are also rumblings that Lieutenant Gov. and former OSU football coach Jim Tressel is being encouraged to run.
Ramaswamy only announced his run in late February, yet he has secured endorsements from Trump, statewide elected officials, many lawmakers and dozens of law enforcement officials.
"Now, to the extent that we have a primary this year, I embrace that — I welcome it because competition breeds innovation," Ramaswamy said during his announcement rally. "I'll be conservative without being combative in this race, though, I will fight to win when necessary."
Ramaswamy officially announced his bid for Ohio governor Monday evening during a rally in Cincinnati.
RELATED: Vivek Ramaswamy announces bid for Ohio governor
Read more about Ramaswamy's views by clicking or tapping here.
In my one-on-one interview with Yost, he warned about his opponents who have never served at the state level.
"This isn’t a consolation prize or a place for on-the-job training," Yost said.
Yost said he isn't worried about his competition in the race.
RELATED: Ohio AG Dave Yost isn't worried about competition in governor's race. Here's why.
The AG is the only one of them that has been in charge of a state agency, or multiple that is. During the conversation with him, he focused on Ramaswamy as his competitor, not Hill.
"The difference is I've been there, and I've done it," Yost said. "I have a proven track record — he's got a couple of books and some speeches."
Both Hill and Yost have to deal with a unique challenge, which is the businessman's money. He is a multimillionaire and can fund his campaign himself.
"I am not worried about money at all; Ohioans have come through for me from the beginning," Hill said. "I'm not in anyone's back pocket, and nobody is in my back pocket. All of my funding so far has come from business owners, entrepreneurs, and Ohioans that strictly want the best that they can have for themselves, their kids and their grandkids."
Financial reporting for campaigns only occurs every few months, so we don't have any insight into how much is in Ramaswamy's campaign fund yet. As of the end of January, Yost's balance is about $2.5 million. Hill reports $400.
"Do you worry that the political experience could be detrimental to your role as a newcomer in the state space?" I asked Hill.
"Absolutely not," she responded. "What I'm hearing from Ohioans — they're tired of the Good Ol' Boys club, they're tired of these career politicians."
She said she truly is someone who can relate to the working Ohioan, saying she would be available for constituents and work with people on the right and left.
"It seems like everybody has an ulterior motive, whether it's career politicians down to billionaire ideologies," she added. "We cannot keep running the state of Ohio with the same tired politicians that refuse to talk to the voters."
She hopes that Republican voters choose her to go up against likely Democratic candidate and former Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton in the 2026 general election.
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.
