Acton Beats Ramaswamy for Ohio Governor After Ad Featuring Her Mother Backfires
Democrat Amy Acton has defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in the race for Ohio governor, overcoming more than $100 million spent against her after a late attack ad featuring her estranged mother backfired.
The Associated Press called the race for Acton, a physician and former state health director. She will be the first woman elected Ohio governor and the first Democrat to win the job in 20 years.
With 87% of ballots counted, Acton led Ramaswamy 50.8% to 45.8%, according to AP figures cited by the Daily Caller. It is the first time since 2006 that Ohio, a state Trump carried three times, has elected a Democratic governor.
Acton succeeds term-limited Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, her former boss during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, when she ordered school and business shutdowns that Ramaswamy and his allies made a central attack.
The Ad That Backfired
In an October ad, Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, called her daughter “a liar” with a “serious problem” and urged Ohioans not to vote for her. Arthur had been estranged from Acton for nearly 50 years.
Arthur lost custody of her children after her husband, Acton’s stepfather, was indicted for raping Acton as a child, the AP reported. He pleaded not guilty and fled the state before he could be tried.
Five Ohio governors, women’s groups and hundreds of alumni of Ramaswamy’s Catholic high school denounced the spot. Ramaswamy first committed $4 million to promote it, the Daily Caller reported, citing Axios.
The campaign pulled the ad about a week before the election, after spending about a quarter of that $4 million, according to the AP. Trump and Vance had both defended it.
Ramaswamy raised about $82 million as of Oct. 14, half of it his own money, while Acton raised just under $38 million, the Daily Caller reported, citing OpenSecrets. Elon Musk gave at least $5 million to a pro-Ramaswamy PAC.
Conceding to a subdued crowd, Ramaswamy said, “I have some serious concerns about the future direction of our country. There’s no avoiding that.” He added that the country had always “found our way upward.”
Ramaswamy, a biotech billionaire and 2024 presidential candidate, had briefly co-led the Department of Government Efficiency with Elon Musk before leaving on the first day of Trump’s second term to run for governor.
He also faced pushback on the right over his defense of the H-1B visa program and a December 2024 post saying “American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long.”
Polls had shown Acton ahead before the ad aired. A Marist poll taken Oct. 15 to 18 had her leading 50% to 43%, the Daily Caller noted. An anonymous GOP strategist told Time, “We now deserve to lose this race.”
Acton repeated her pledge to turn down the temperature in Ohio politics and govern for everyone. Republican Sen. Jon Husted also lost his race Tuesday, the AP reported, despite repeated visits from Trump and Vance.
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