AKRON, Ohio — With nine days left before the November 3 election, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dr. Amy Acton, former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown and a slate of Ohio Democrats brought their closing statewide campaign push to Akron on Sunday, rallying voters at House Three Thirty.
Acton, the former Ohio health director, is running for governor against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy to succeed term-limited Gov. Mike DeWine. Brown is seeking a return to the U.S. Senate against Republican Sen. Jon Husted, in a race that could help determine control of the Senate. Both contests are rated tight heading into the final stretch, and a Democrat has not won the Ohio governor’s office since 2011.
Joining Acton and Brown on stage were U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes of Akron, who is seeking reelection in Ohio’s 13th Congressional District; Cincinnati City Council member Seth Walsh, the Democratic candidate for state treasurer; and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia. Akron Mayor Shammas Malik and longtime Summit County Democratic figures Vernon and Barbara Sykes also addressed the crowd.
“We believe in our community,” Emilia Sykes told the rally. “There are people working two and three jobs to pay the bills. So many of us feel that the American Dream is out of reach for us.” The Akron crowd was significantly smaller than the one that greeted the same candidates in Cleveland a day earlier, but attendees were enthusiastic, according to reports from the event.
The Akron stop came less than 24 hours after former President Barack Obama stumped for Brown and Acton in Cleveland, part of a final-weeks push by national figures on both sides. Brown, who lost his Senate seat in 2024, has campaigned on lowering costs for Ohio families, while Husted’s campaign has argued the Republican approach will lower energy costs and strengthen the economy.
For Summit County voters, the rally landed in the busiest week of the early-voting calendar. Early in-person voting is open at the Summit County Board of Elections with extended hours this week, and absentee ballot applications are due by 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 27. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, with polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Both parties are now in full get-out-the-vote mode across northeast Ohio, and the statewide candidates are expected to keep crisscrossing the region through the final weekend. Sunday’s Akron rally was one of the last big multi-candidate Democratic events scheduled in Summit County before the early-voting window closes on November 1.