COLUMBUS — Democrat Amy Acton will be Ohio’s next governor. The Associated Press called the race for Acton on Tuesday night, and CNN, NBC and Decision Desk HQ projected the same outcome, making the former state health director the first woman ever elected governor of Ohio and the first Democrat to win the office in 20 years.
With about 87 percent of precincts reporting in unofficial returns tabulated by the Associated Press, Acton had 2,086,241 votes to 1,882,843 for Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, a margin of roughly five points. Libertarian Don Kissick had 137,634 votes. The Columbus Dispatch reported Acton leading 50 percent to 46 percent as the call was made.
Acton, 60, led the Ohio Department of Health in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic under Gov. Mike DeWine, becoming a household name through the state’s daily briefings before resigning in 2020. Her running mate is David Pepper, a former Ohio Democratic Party chairman. Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur backed by President Donald Trump, ran with state Sen. Rob McColley as his running mate.
The victory ends a long drought for Ohio Democrats in governor’s races. The last Democrat elected governor was Ted Strickland in 2006, and Democrats had not held the office since Strickland left in 2011. According to The Times of London’s election-night coverage, Acton is the first woman elected to the office; Republican Nancy Hollister previously served as governor for 11 days in 1998-99 after succeeding to the job, but was never elected to it.
The governor’s race was one of the most expensive and heated in the country this year. Trump and Vice President JD Vance both campaigned in Ohio in the final month to drive Republican turnout, according to the Columbus Dispatch, but the effort fell short in a state Trump carried three times.
Acton watched the returns at a joint election-night event in downtown Columbus with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, whose own race against Republican Sen. Jon Husted remained too early to call late Tuesday, with Brown holding a narrow lead in the unofficial count.
Acton will succeed DeWine, who was barred by term limits from seeking a third consecutive term. She is scheduled to be inaugurated on January 11, 2027. County boards of elections must certify their results within 21 days, and all results reported Tuesday night remain unofficial until then.
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