The two major party candidates for governor have hit each other with some harsh claims, as they and their supporters try to define themselves and their opponent for voters.
Neither candidate has ever been elected to public office. But their names may be familiar. Democrat Amy Acton was Ohio’s health director during the earliest days of the COVID pandemic. And Republican billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy ran against President Trump in the 2024 primary and has his endorsement for governor. The campaign is in full swing through ads and on social media, and growing nasty.
In Acton’s first ad, released in July, she talks about her difficult childhood, being 12 years old and living in a tent near Youngstown. On the campaign trail, Acton talks about how she overcame her past, waited tables, delivered newspapers and worked three jobs to put herself through medical school. She said she intends to use what she’s learned through her challenges in life to improve the lives of Ohioans who are suffering with economic hardships right now.
Republicans raise questions about Acton’s integrity
Republicans have been painting a different story about Acton. Party leaders have long blasted her for mask mandates and shutdowns during COVID, even though Republican Gov. Mike DeWine has said they came from him. The GOP has also turned to a police report from 2019, which describes a fight during which both Acton and her husband admitted to drinking.
On Aug. 19, the Ohio Republican Party took a Facebook post from Acton about her Jeep and posted it on X with some changes and a different caption. Her post read, “Vivek got a new plane. We got a tire cover for our Jeep made by a local Ohio artist.” The Ohio Republican Party posted on X a few hours later: "I can't believe Amy Acton posted this. Check out the license plate." It's Acton's photo, but with a license plate reading “Drunk Mom." The party’s post didn’t disclose that AI was used to change the photo.
“It’s satire. We know that. We know obviously that’s not what her license plate says,” said Ohio Republican Party chair Alex Triantifilou said in an interview.
But some on X disagreed, resulting in a community note to disclose the image in the ORP’s post is AI-altered. But Triantifilou said he stands by it because it's based on facts: “Her own daughter called the police. This has all been documented, not by us but by police officers.”
Acton said those details are being misrepresented by Republicans.
“They are taking things out of context, words out of context," Acton told reporters this week. "We did have a moment where my husband and I were having an argument and it was a normal marital fight.”
That 2019 police report shows officers took about 45 minutes to investigate the situation and left without filing any charges against Acton or anyone in her home.
Democrats raise questions about Ramaswamy’s integrity
Ramaswamy and his political action committee V-PAC have been running ads since March. His own ads focus on his business skills and describe him as an innovator, a leader and a family man, with his wife, Apoorva, narrating the first ad for his campaign.
But like their opponents, Acton and groups that support her are telling a different story. They routinely refer to Vivek as a corrupt billionaire out of touch with ordinary Ohioans. A recent ad from the Democratic Governors Association calls Ramaswamy a “conman” and someone who took advantage of investors.
The ad is based on allegations that Ramaswamy's former biotech company inflated the value of an Alzheimer's drug it had bought that had failed previous trials. Acton's running mate David Pepper told reporters that investors ended up losing millions while Ramaswamy profits, and he said it’s part of a pattern.
“Hucksters, false hope, false hype, it never adds up, but it exploits everyday people while he gets rich,” Pepper said.
Triantafillou roundly rejected that characterization of Ramaswamy, saying he's a success story to be celebrated and a born-and-bred Ohio success story from a middle-class immigrant family.
“He's someone that we ought to be lifting up and celebrating as a great success story of what happens when you play by the rules, play fair, and do the right thing. He's now choosing to bring his extraordinary talents into government. And, for that, I think Ohioans are going to be very welcoming, and these slanderous attacks on him are false,” Triantifilou said.
Will strategies change?
Acton's Senior Advisor, Justin Barasky, said in an interview that Republicans backing Ramaswamy are getting desperate. He said that's because they’ve spent tens of millions in ads against her with no gain, "and so they are forced to sink into the depths of the gutter to lie about her.”
Triantifilou said it’s not gutter politics, but questions voters should ask.
“We're not going to be scared off from asking legitimate questions about her ability to do the job, not one bit,” Triantifilou said.
According to campaign finance reports filed in August, Ramaswamy has spent more than $21 million, and Acton has spent around $5.5 million this year. The most expensive race for Ohio governor was in 2018, when Mike DeWine and Richard Cordray spent around $45 million.
