Democrat Amy Acton defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio's governor's race on Tuesday, Nov. 3, making Acton the first Democrat elected to the office since 2006, WLWT reported. The Associated Press projected the win at about 10:45 p.m., according to Signal Cincinnati.
Acton is also the first woman elected governor of Ohio. She takes office in January, replacing term-limited Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.
Unofficial results
With 85% of votes counted at the time of the AP call, Acton led Ramaswamy 50.7% to 46%, Signal Cincinnati reported. Earlier tallies from American Bazaar, citing NBC News and AP data, provided the following snapshot as of 10:45 p.m. on Nov. 3, with 79.5% of the expected vote counted:
Candidate | Party | Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
Amy Acton | D | 1,900,498 | 50.4% |
Vivek Ramaswamy | R | 1,746,119 | 46.3% |
Don Kissick | L | 126,561 | 3.4% |
These results remain unofficial pending certification. The Ohio Secretary of State will certify results approximately three weeks after the election.
Cincinnati connection
The result carries a direct Cincinnati connection. Ramaswamy, 41, was born in Evendale and later lived in West Chester Township, Fox 19 reported. He is a St. Xavier High School graduate, according to WLWT. Acton's running mate, David Pepper, is a Cincinnati native who will serve as lieutenant governor.
Pepper, 55, served on Cincinnati City Council from 2001 to 2005 and on the Hamilton County Commission from 2007 to 2010, including a stint as commission president, according to WLWT's profile of the running mate. He is a lawyer and adjunct professor in election law at the University of Cincinnati.
Hamilton County turnout surged
About 55.8% of the county's 616,757 registered voters cast ballots in advance or on Election Day, according to unofficial results posted by the Hamilton County Board of Elections.
That topped 51.51% in 2022 and 45.14% in 2014, the Enquirer reported. More than 77,000 Hamilton County voters cast ballots in person before Election Day, a record for a midterm election, according to the county's elections director, Local 12 reported.
A bitter, expensive campaign
The race drew national attention after Ramaswamy's campaign aired an ad featuring Acton's estranged mother. Acton was removed from her mother's custody at age 12 after her stepfather was indicted for raping her, PBS NewsHour reported. DeWine called for the ad to be taken down, and the campaign stopped airing it, American Bazaar reported.
More than $149 million in TV and radio ad spending was spent or reserved as of Nov. 2, with about three-quarters of that on behalf of Ramaswamy, cleveland.com reported. Ramaswamy personally loaned his campaign more than $40 million, according to cleveland.com.
Acton, 60, is a physician who served as Ohio's health director during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur, had never held public office. Both Trump and DeWine had endorsed Ramaswamy, according to PBS NewsHour.
Ramaswamy took the stage after the race was called and said he had called Acton to congratulate her, WLWT reported.
Acton will face a Republican-controlled legislature when she takes office, Signal Cincinnati reported. She campaigned on targeted tax relief and increased school funding.
