Vivek Ramaswamy loses Ohio governor's race after controversial ad torpedoes struggling campaign
- Midterm results in full: See all the live maps and charts as the votes come in
- Which US president are YOU? Take Daily Mail's quiz and find out
By PHILLIP NIETO, US POLITICAL REPORTER
Published: | Updated:
Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, a strong ally of JD Vance, has lost the race for Ohio governor to Democrat Amy Acton, handing Democrats a state Trump carried by about 11 points two years ago.
Acton won 50.7 percent compared to Ramaswamy's 46 percent with 85 percent of the vote counted, according to the Associated Press.
Acton becomes the first woman elected governor of Ohio and its first Jewish governor. Republican Nancy Hollister briefly served as governor by succession, from December 1998 to early January 1999.
She becomes the first Democrat to win the Ohio governorship since 2006.
Acton, a physician, ran Ohio's Department of Health under Republican Gov. Mike DeWine and became the face of the state's COVID-19 shutdowns.
She had never held elected office. She succeeds DeWine, who is term-limited. The race turned on a single ad.
Two weeks before Election Day, Ramaswamy's campaign released a spot starring Acton's estranged mother, Donna Arthur, calling her daughter a liar and suggesting she was mentally ill.
The ad did not mention that Arthur lost custody of Acton in 1978, after her stepfather was charged with raping the 12-year-old.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton reacts following her victory in the US midterm elections at a Democratic Election Night rally, in Columbus, Ohio, US, November 3
Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, left, leaves his polling location with his wife Apoorva after voting, Tuesday
Acton's mother stayed married to the stepfather, Cledith Arthur, until his death. Acton has said she has not seen her since the two were in a courtroom together in 1978. Cledith Arthur pleaded not guilty.
DeWine called it 'deeply, deeply troubling' and told Ramaswamy to pull it, but didn't revoke his endorsement of Ramaswamy.
Vance told Republican critics to 'stop whining.' Trump insisted the ad had 'nothing to do' with Acton's stepfather.
National Republicans fretted the backlash would also drag down Senator Jon Husted against Sherrod Brown.
A Youngstown native, Acton has spoken openly about childhood homelessness and abuse. In September, an armed man lunged at her at the Canfield Fair; she was unharmed.
A GOP internal poll obtained by Axios found Acton's lead jumped from two points to eight. Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur who ran for president in 2024, initially refused to pull it until bowing to pressure in the final week before Election Day.
He had been bidding to become the nation's first Hindu governor. Acton campaigned on health care and rising medical costs.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.