Vivek Ramaswamy, who initially threw his hat into the ring for the 2024 presidential race and is now vying for the Ohio governorship, has recently accepted a campaign contribution from a controversial figure. Richard Iott, a past GOP congressional candidate known for his Nazi cosplay, donated $500 to Ramaswamy’s campaign on August 15, according to public campaign finance records.

Ramaswamy’s campaign is facing challenges in Ohio, a state where Donald Trump secured a decisive 11-point victory in 2024. A December poll conducted by Emerson showed a tight race, with Democrat Amy Acton leading Ramaswamy by just one point, within a margin of error of 3.3 percent.

Efforts to obtain comments from Ramaswamy’s team on Friday were unsuccessful, as they did not respond to inquiries.

Richard Iott, who aligned with the Tea Party, sought a congressional seat in the 2010 elections. His campaign, however, faltered after The Atlantic exposed images of him dressed in a 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking uniform, a division that served under Adolf Hitler during World War II and participated in the genocide against Hungarian Jews on the Eastern Front.

Iott was among the Tea Party-aligned hopefuls to try to enter Congress in the 2010 election, but his campaign was upended when the Atlantic published photographs of him in a 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking uniform. 

That division was part of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s military in World War II, mostly fighting along the Eastern Front, and assisted in the genocide of Hungarian Jews.

At the time, Iott didn’t deny participation in the reenactment group.

Vivek Ramaswamy, a 2024 Republican presidential candidate who’s now the leading candidate for his party’s nomination to be Ohio governor, pocketed $500 in cash from a former Ohio GOP House candidate who liked to dress up in a Nazi-era German military uniform 

Ohio Republican Richard Iott (second from right) had his 2010 House run derailed when the Atlantic obtained this picture that showed him in a Nazi-era 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking uniform, which he said he wore for ‘historical’ purposes, not because he believed in Naziism 

But he did answer, ‘No, absolutely not,’ when asked if he subscribed to the tenets of Naziism, adding, ‘It’s purely historical interest in World War II.’

‘I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that here was a relatively small country that from a strictly military point of view accomplished incredible things,’ he also said. ‘I mean, they took over most of Europe and Russia, and it really took the combined effort of the free world to defeat them.’ 

‘From a purely historical military point of view, that’s incredible,’ Iott added. 

Republicans distanced themselves from Iott’s campaign, with the GOP’s highest-ranking Jewish member, then House Whip Eric Cantor, repudiating the candidate’s actions.

‘I do not support anything like this,’ Cantor told Fox News Sunday at the time.

Iott put out a statement on his campaign website trying to smooth over the controversy with Jewish voters in particular, as the Nazis killed more than 6 million Jews during the Holocaust. 

‘Never, in any of my reenacting of military history, have I meant any disrespect to anyone who served in our military or anyone who has been affected by the tragedy of war, especially the Jewish community,’ he said. 

A month later, Iott was defeated by incumbent Democratic Representative Marcy Kaptur by nearly 19 points, while other Tea Party-aligned Republican candidates were elected nationwide.

Vivek Ramaswamy, a 40-year-old Cincinnati, Ohio native launched his campaign from his home town last February. He’s the leading contender for the GOP nomination, but is already in a close race with Democrat Amy Acton

After endorsing President Donald Trump in the 2024 campaign, Vivek Ramaswamy (left) briefly joined forced with Elon Musk (right) to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, but he was out by the end of January 2025. He launched his gubernatorial bid last February 

Fifteen years later, Iott’s support was still causing Republican candidates political trouble.

In June 2025, two months before he donated to Ramaswamy’s campaign, the Jewish publication Forward reported that Iott had donated to the campaign of Virginia Republican gubernatorial hopeful Winsome Earle-Sears.

Ramaswamy officially announced his gubernatorial bid last February, after he stepped away from his planned role of co-leading the new Department of Government Efficiency alongside Elon Musk the month before.

He told Fox News Channel in late January 2025 that he had a ‘mutual discussion’ with Musk about leaving DOGE, addressing rumors that he had been fired. 

‘We had different – and complementary – approaches,’ Ramaswamy said. 

The 40-year-old Cincinnati native became a national political player during the 2024 presidential cycle when he launched a long-shot campaign for the Republican nomination. 

He had become a mouthpiece in the tech community for being anti-woke and positioned himself to be a next-generation, Trump-like candidate without any of the Trump baggage. 

After a disappointing showing in the 2024 Iowa caucuses in January, he dropped out of the race and quickly endorsed the president. 

Vivek Ramaswamy is seen on the Republican presidential debate stage in December 2023 when he was running for president. He famously held up a notepad that said ‘Nikki = corrupt,’ tearing into rival, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley

Vivek Ramaswamy (right) is photographed at a UFC fight in November 2024, after President Donald Trump won reelection, alongside (from left) Donald Trump Jr. Eric Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson 

In November, Trump officially blessed Ramaswamy’s gubernatorial bid. 

Still, Ramaswamy has attracted opponents in the GOP primary, which will be held on May 5. 

Heather Hill, a former school board president, is running, and last month selected a little-known reality TV star named Stuart Moat to be her running mate. 

Moat appeared on the show Unstable Lumberbacks.

Renea Turner, who mounted a write-in campaign for governor in 2018, has also entered the race as a Republican. 

She had been reported to the police for allegedly plotting to arrest Ohio’s Republican Governor Mike DeWine and put him on trial for ‘tyranny’ over COVID-19 mandates – allegations she denied, according to Dayton 24/7 Now. 

 In January, business owner Casey Putsch also joined the GOP race.

Democrats have rallied behind Acton, a physician who formerly served as the director of the Ohio Department of Health.