Democrat Amy Acton wins Ohio’s race for governor

Democrat Amy Acton has won Ohio’s race for governor, defeating Republican businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, NBC News projects.

The race became hostile in its closing days after Ramaswamy’s campaign produced and aired an attack ad featuring Acton’s estranged mother.

Acton, 60, is the first woman to be elected governor of the state. Former Lt. Gov. Nancy Hollister served as governor for 11 days in 1999 after Republican Gov. George Voinovich moved on to the Senate.

She is also the first Democrat to win Ohio’s governorship since Ted Strickland won a single four-year term in 2006. Since then, the state has moved decisively to the right, and it backed Donald Trump by comfortable margins in three straight presidential elections.

Ramaswamy, 41, lost despite an endorsement from Trump and having top strategists from his and Vice President JD Vance’s political teams advising him and an aligned super PAC.

“Tonight, Ohio has chosen unity and decency over division and hate,” Acton said in a statement. “Ohio is ready for a Governor who will fight to lower costs, take on corruption, and build a state where everyone gets a fair shot. Regardless of who you voted for, I will be a governor for all Ohioans. This isn’t about party; it’s about building a better future for our state.”

Acton will succeed term-limited Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican whom she served under as health director during the early days of the Covid pandemic.

Acton and Ramaswamy found themselves in an increasingly expensive and acrimonious fight as polls showed Democrats with a strong chance of winning Ohio’s governorship for the first time in 20 years. Neither candidate has held elected office, though Ramaswamy made an unsuccessful bid against Trump for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024. Down the stretch, Acton refused to debate Ramaswamy, with her campaign manager saying she had no interest in “platforming a scam artist.”

The most seismic development in their battle came two weeks before Election Day, when Ramaswamy’s campaign announced it would spend $4 million to air an ad in which Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, called her daughter a liar and urged Ohioans not to vote for her. Acton has said she has not seen or spoken with Arthur in nearly 50 years and has accused her mother’s then-husband of sexually abusing her as a child.

The ad did not mention details of the abuse case but drew wide bipartisan condemnation from DeWine and others who saw it as exploiting a family’s painful history. Ramaswamy refused to take down or apologize for the ad.

“My opponent has chosen to exploit, intentionally, my childhood to save his struggling campaign, but it’s not going to work,” Acton said at an Oct. 24 rally with former President Barack Obama in Cleveland.

Ramaswamy, who vowed to reduce property taxes and phase out the state’s income tax, poured a considerable amount of his own money into his campaign. Meanwhile, the pro-Ramaswamy super PAC took millions of dollars in donations from fellow billionaires Elon Musk and Jeffrey Yass.

Acton, for her part, held up her service in a Republican administration as an example of her ability to appeal to all political sensibilities. She presented herself as a moderate in terms of tone and policies while characterizing Ramaswamy as extreme. She also spoke often of having grown up poor in Youngstown while attempting to make Ramaswamy’s wealth a liability as voters wrestled with high prices. She and her Democratic allies repeatedly criticized Ramaswamy for traveling the state in a private jet.

Ramaswamy’s high-flying ways became such a focal point that even some of his fellow Republicans expressed annoyance over his insistence on the luxury.

Others speculated that Ramaswamy’s Indian American heritage and Hindu faith in a state that’s overwhelmingly white and Christian might hold back his campaign. Ramaswamy himself acknowledged the deluge of racism and bigotry he was encountering online when he announced he had deleted social media apps from his phone.

Ramaswamy and his allies focused on Acton’s role as the state health director during Covid. The job made Acton a household name in Ohio, providing her the launchpad she would eventually use to run for governor. But it also made her a convenient villain for Republicans, who relentlessly attacked her for her involvement in closing schools and businesses — never mind that DeWine, a Republican, had the final say. DeWine has since said that attacks on Acton’s work during the pandemic are unfair.

Acton, 60, also faced scrutiny over a report of a “domestic dispute” after police responded to an incident at her home in 2019. Acton, who was not charged with a crime, has described the matter as a “verbal argument” with her husband over her working hours.

Ramaswamy and Republicans spent considerably on ads that sensationalized the incident and emphasized a police report that stated Acton had told officers she had been drinking and taken an unknown amount of prescription drugs. Acton’s campaign has said she was not intoxicated and that the medication was something she had taken regularly for years.

Trump traveled to Ohio to lend his support to Ramaswamy in person. The president noted, though, that Ramaswamy had run against him briefly in 2024.

“He was not easy,” Trump said at an Oct. 3 rally in Vandalia, near Dayton. “This one was not easy. He was a nasty guy. But you know what? He was smart. He loves the state. He’s actually got a great heart.”