Republican legislature sets up potential clashes over tax reform, school funding and data centers
Democratic doctor Amy Acton was elected governor of Ohio on Tuesday and will become the state’s first woman to serve in the office. Her victory ended 16 years of Republican control. Acton, 60, defeated biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who had Donald Trump’s endorsement, and will succeed term-limited Republican Mike DeWine.
A Guardian photo caption showed Acton during a campaign event at UAW 1250 in Brook Park, Ohio, on Sunday, November 1, 2026. The photograph was credited to Dustin Franz/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
Acton’s victory returned the governorship to a Democrat for the first time since Ted Strickland won in 2006. Acton and Ramaswamy were both first-time candidates who had never held elected office.
Acton will take office in a state Donald Trump carried by 11 points in 2024 and will govern alongside a Republican-controlled legislature. The division sets up potential clashes over tax reform, school funding and data centers.
Ramaswamy won Trump’s endorsement on the day he launched his campaign. He promised voters he would revive the American Dream by making Ohio income-tax free in a decade, cutting energy bills and restoring “law and order” to Ohio’s cities.
Acton centered her campaign on lowering costs, promising an earned income tax credit, a child tax credit of up to $1,000, a public prescription drug platform and property tax relief aimed at seniors and middle-income homeowners. She cast herself as a pragmatist who had served in a Republican administration under DeWine.
Early polls showed Acton 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 $100m on advertising against Acton, roughly three times what her campaign spent. The ads focused on her role in the state’s pandemic shutdowns. At an October rally in Youngstown, Trump called Acton “a radical left lunatic.”
In the final weeks leading up to Election Day, The Guardian characterized the race as one of the most expensive in the country. A minute-long Ramaswamy campaign ad featured Acton’s estranged mother calling her a liar. Acton’s mother lost custody of her after her husband, Acton’s stepfather, was indicted for raping Acton when she was 12.
The advertisement drew backlash from politicians in both parties, who urged Ramaswamy to take it down and apologize. Trump and Vice-President JD Vance backed the advertisement; Ramaswamy’s campaign said it would spend $4m airing it, and the spot was discontinued the previous week.
Polling moved steadily in Acton’s direction through the fall, and a string of October polls showed her ahead until her eventual victory.
Acton led Ohio’s health department through the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic, the record Ramaswamy’s advertising focused on. She also served in a Republican administration under DeWine before running as a Democrat.