Times Square ad war: Vivek Ramaswamy fights Zohran Mamdani but says don't attack his ethnicity

A major Times Square ad war broke out as New Yorkers were asked to flee the possibility of Zohran Mamdani becoming the mayor of the city by running to Ohio which has its Governor election in 2026 and Republican leader Vivek Ramaswamy is the GOP candidate. The advertisement contrasted Mamdani, a "radical socialist" with Ramaswamy, a person who is "protecting freedom".

“Worried About Zohran? Ohio Is Waiting For You!” the ad says.

The digital billboard has been paid for by Vivek Super PAC -- Victors, not Victims, which supports Ramaswamy's candidacy. Ramaswamy has already made a record of the highest fund received in the shortest time for the Ohio governor election, as the Indian-origin young billionaire entered the fray in February only after exiting from the Department of Government Efficiency. The pro-Ramaswamy super PAC has raised $17 million to support his 2026 run for governor.

“We put this billboard up because we couldn’t think of two politicians in the country that represent such wildly different paths for the future of our nation. The Mamdani path of socialist totalitarianism versus the Vivek path of American freedom,” Andy Surabian, chief strategist to the VPAC, told the New York Post.

The billboard will stay on display at Times Square this whole week.

But Ramaswamy has a message for Mamdani critics

Quite opposite to their ad war, Vivek Ramaswamy has a message to deliver to those who attack Zohran Mamdani for his Indian-Ugandan origin. In a New York Post article, published at the same time the billboard war began, Ramaswamy wrote about how he has been attacked over his 'race' and how each time he posts a photo, he is asked to 'GO HOME'.

Ramaswamy wrote that Mamdani should be countered for his worldviews and not his race or religion. "The real problem with Mamdani isn’t his race or religion. It’s his anti-capitalist worldview and his policies that risk destroying our nation’s largest city," Ramaswamy wrote. "But some supposed 'conservatives' are pouncing on Mamdani not for his political views, but for his ethnicity," Ramaswamy wrote.