Amy Acton becomes Ohio’s first woman governor after bitter, costly campaign against Trump-backed Ramaswamy

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton speaks after being declared the winner during a midterm election night watch party at the Hilton Downtown Columbus in Columbus, Ohio, on November 3, 2026.— AFP pic

First Published: Wednesday, 04 Nov 2026 1:01 PM MYT

COLUMBUS, Nov 4 — Democrat Amy Acton was elected governor of Ohio yesterday, defeating Republican Vivek Ramaswamy after a bitter contest in which he spent millions of dollars on deeply personal attack ads featuring her estranged mother, The Guardian reported.

Acton, 60, will become the first woman to serve as Ohio’s governor, ending 16 years of Republican control. She is also the first Democrat to win the post since Ted Strickland in 2006.

She succeeds the term-limited Republican Mike DeWine.

According to the report, the race became one of the most expensive and acrimonious in the United States in the final weeks before election day.

Ramaswamy’s campaign aired an advertisement featuring Acton’s mother calling her a liar. The Guardian reported that Acton’s mother had lost custody of her after Acton’s stepfather was indicted for raping Acton when she was 12.

The advertisement drew criticism from politicians of both parties, who urged Ramaswamy to withdraw it and apologise.

However, US President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance backed the minute-long spot, on which the campaign said it would spend US$4 million. The advertisement was eventually pulled last week.

Acton, who led Ohio’s health department during the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic, campaigned on lowering living costs.

According to the report, her pledges included an earned income tax credit, a child tax credit of up to US$1,000, a public prescription drug platform and property tax relief for seniors and middle-income homeowners.

The report said she cast herself as a pragmatist who had served in a Republican administration under DeWine.

Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur, secured Trump’s endorsement on the day he launched his campaign. He promised to make Ohio income-tax free within a decade, cut energy bills and restore “law and order” to the state’s cities.

The Guardian described Acton’s road to victory as turbulent for a first-time candidate who, like Ramaswamy, had never held elected office.

Early polls showed her trailing by double digits, with roughly a quarter of voters saying they had never heard of her. For months, Democrats speculated that better-known figures, including former senator Sherrod Brown and former congressman Tim Ryan, might enter the race.

By mid-October, Ramaswamy and his allies had spent more than US$100 million on advertisements against Acton — roughly three times what her campaign spent — targeting her role in the state’s pandemic shutdowns, the report said.

At an October rally in Youngstown, Trump called Acton “a radical left lunatic”.

Polling nonetheless shifted steadily in her favour through the autumn, with a string of October polls showing her in the lead.

The Guardian noted that Acton will govern a state that backed Trump by 11 points in 2024, alongside a Republican-controlled legislature, setting up potential clashes over tax reform, school funding and data centres.