Amy Acton defeats Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio governor race

Former Ohio public health director Amy Acton claimed victory over Republican opponent Vivek Ramaswamy to deliver for Democrats a rare statewide win in the Buckeye State.

The Associated Press declared Acton, who helped lead the state’s response through much of the COVID-19 pandemic, the winner over Ramaswamy following a bitter campaign for the open gubernatorial seat.

The backstory:

Heading into Election Day, the Ohio race grew into one of the most heated in the country as Acton and Ramaswamy vied to replace outgoing Gov. Mike DeWine, who was ineligible to run for a third term. The race made national headlines in the closing weeks of the campaign when the Ramaswamy campaign aired a controversial political commercial featuring Acton’s estranged mother.

Once a famously purple state, Ohio turned solidly red over recent elections, particularly since the rise of President Donald Trump. Going into Election Day, Republicans controlled both chambers of the state legislature, all key statewide elected offices, and both U.S. Senate seats. 

The race pitted Acton against Ramaswamy, a biotech billionaire who had run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024 and had the active support of President Donald Trump. While Democrats had not won a gubernatorial race in 20 years, voter discontent had the party optimistic that it could break through this time around.

Acton’s path to victory

One of the key routes to the governor’s mansion for both candidates was to hit the trail on the backroads of the often ruby-red parts of rural Ohio, where rising prices and health care costs were top of mind for voters, along with the war in Iran and controversies surrounding data centers. 

Local perspective:

By stressing affordability issues, Acton’s camp sought to win over voters they called "legacy Republicans" and described as those "disgusted with how they’ve seen their party go into the MAGAsphere." The campaign sought out voters who live in parts of the state where the GOP controls all levels of government and who have grown frustrated with what they are seeing. 

Acton also looked to broaden her appeal to potential swing voters by rejecting policy positions held by some more progressive Democratic candidates. For example, she has come out against transgender athletes competing in women’s sports and supported local law enforcement cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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The Controversial Ad

The Ohio gubernatorial race was thrust onto the national stage following the release of a commercial by the Ramaswamy campaign in which Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, described her daughter as untrustworthy and insinuated the Democratic candidate had mental issues. Acton stated that she had not seen her mother since they were in a courtroom together in 1978.

Shortly after the ad first appeared, a statement by the candidate’s brother, Philip Stearns, explained that the two of them were removed from their mother’s home after her husband, Cledith Arthur, was indicted for raping Acton as a child. Arthur was never tried on the charge after missing a court appearance and remained married to Donna until he died in 2004. 

The Response

The spot was widely criticized by members of both parties. Within days, every living full-term governor of Ohio, a list that includes two Democrats and three Republicans, decried the ad, including the man Acton and Ramaswamy are looking to replace. DeWine called on his fellow Republican to stop airing the ad, saying, "It really exceeds the bounds of human decency."

Ramaswamy’s camp has defended the commercial and committed millions to continue airing the commercial on TV and on streaming platforms. While some members of the GOP did join Democrats in calling for taking down the ad, the nation’s two most prominent Republicans, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, backed the decision to keep it running, with the president saying it was "hitting the pay dirt."

With the race already expected to come down to the wire, whether the ad played a critical factor in deciding who won will be difficult to tell right off the bat.

1 of 36 Governor’s Races

Acton’s win helps the Democrats in their effort this November to do something they have not done in more than a decade: control a majority of governor’s mansions. Since 2010, Republican governors have outnumbered their Democratic counterparts, and for a few years, it was not even close. By 2018, the GOP controlled more than twice as many governors’ seats as Democrats (33 to 16, with one independent). 

Going into this November’s election, the Democrats had whittled the deficit to two seats. Acton’s victory would bring the two parties into a tie at 25 seats each, pending the results of all the other races. 

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