Whether or not he had a tweet storm doesn't actually matter. Casey Putsch is following what is now a long line of gadfly primary challengers (e.g. Paul Nehlen) who get concentrated levels of clout in online circles populated by people who don't even live in the areas they are running in. Vivek's name recognition from being in the 2024 debates and touring the media circuit was always going to make him have a decent chance of winning the nomination (Arnold Schwarzenegger benefited similarly back in 2003 in the governor recall). Then when Vivek cut a deal with Trump and Ohio GOP officials to have their support he became a shoe-in for the nomination.
Even if Casey Putsch were a disciplined, smart messenger it literally doesn't matter if he isn't having a strong presence on the airwaves / mainstream media outlets. Many people voting in the 2026 Ohio GOP Gubernatorial primary will just walk in there, notice that 'Vivek Ramaswamy' is a name they recognize who they associate with his standard generic boomercon talking points on TV, and fill out the bubble for him. That's how primaries tend to work.
And because he's going to have a lot of $ along with relatively mainstream political stances for Ohio, he's the favorite against Amy Acton in November unless some unforeseen things happen. The people online confidently asserting he's DOA against Acton are projecting their own jeet hatred onto the voting population of Ohio. Many Ohio voters won't even think he is calling them 'lazy' even if they are shown ads about his 2024 tweets, they'll just think it's typical politician attack tactics blowing something out of proportion.
Whether you like it or not - the next Governor of Ohio is likely (but not certainly) Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy. No this is not a personal endorsement of Vivek because I thought he was suspicious since day 1 and I don't like his anecdote that he apparently "cried" when viewing Jan 6 happen live (he also compared Stop the Steal to Stacey Abrams victim mentality). He also said he doesn't believe in eating meat because he thinks it's wrong to hurt animals for culinary pleasure. But maybe the youthful vegan BHARAT energy will help him on the campaign trail, who knows.