Amy Acton wins Ohio race for governor, ending 16 years of Republican control of office

Democrat Amy Acton has won Ohio’s governorship, defeating Trump-endorsed biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and ending 16 years of Republican control. A former state health director who led Ohio during the early Covid pandemic, Acton will be the state’s first woman governor and its first Democratic governor since 2006.

The campaign was unusually bitter and costly: Ramaswamy and his allies spent more than $100 million on advertising against Acton, about three times her campaign’s spending. One advert used comments from Acton’s estranged mother and drew criticism from politicians in both parties before it was withdrawn. Acton campaigned on lowering household costs, including tax credits and property tax relief; Ramaswamy proposed eliminating Ohio’s income tax over a decade.