Amy Acton Elected Ohio Governor, Defeating Vivek Ramaswamy to End GOP’s 16-Year Dominance

Amy Acton was elected governor of Ohio on Tuesday, delivering a decisive Democratic victory in a state that Donald Trump carried in three previous presidential elections.

The 60-year-old Acton directed Ohio’s Health Department during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her election makes her the first woman to serve as Ohio’s governor. Furthermore, her defeat of Vivek Ramaswamy, the biotech entrepreneur endorsed by Trump, brings an end to 16 years of Republican control of the governor’s office. She also becomes the first Democrat to win the position since Ted Strickland took office in 2006.

Acton will lead a state that strongly favored Trump by 11 points in the 2024 presidential election, and she will govern alongside a Republican-controlled legislature. This arrangement sets the stage for potential confrontations over tax reform, school funding, and data center expansion.

The contest to succeed term-limited Republican Mike DeWine was marked by immense spending on negative advertising and a deeply divisive political landscape. Ramaswamy captured Trump’s endorsement immediately upon entering the race, promising to revive the American Dream by eliminating the state income tax over a decade, lowering energy costs, and restoring “law and order” in Ohio’s cities.

Meanwhile, Acton anchored her campaign in lowering costs for constituents, proposing an earned income tax credit, a child tax credit of up to $1,000, a public prescription drug platform, and property tax relief targeting seniors and middle-income homeowners. She positioned herself as a pragmatic candidate who had previously worked in DeWine’s administration.

As the election approached, the race became one of the costliest and most bitter nationally. Ramaswamy’s campaign aired an ad featuring Acton’s estranged mother, who lost custody following her husband’s—Acton’s stepfather’s—indictment for raping Acton when she was 12. The spot drew severe backlash from both parties, urging the campaign to take it down and apologize. Although Trump and Vice President JD Vance supported the ad, it was eventually discontinued weeks prior to voting day.

Acton’s journey to the governorship was far from assured, marking her as a first-time candidate. Initial polls showed her trailing double digits, with roughly a quarter of voters stating they had never heard of her. Over the preceding months, Democrats speculated that more prominent figures, including former Senator Sherrod Brown and former Congressman Tim Ryan, could enter the race to bolster their chances.

By mid-October, Ramaswamy and his allies had spent over $100 million on advertisements opposing Acton, roughly triple the amount spent by her campaign. At an October rally in Youngstown, Trump labeled Acton “a radical left lunatic.” Nevertheless, polling moved steadily in her favor through the fall, with a succession of October surveys placing her ahead until her eventual victory.

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