Democrat Amy Acton defeated Cincinnati native Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio's governor's race on Tuesday, Nov. 3, WLWT reported, citing an Associated Press projection. Acton will become the first woman elected Ohio governor and the first Democrat elected governor in 20 years.
The outcome caps a bitter, expensive contest that played out across Northern Kentucky's airwaves and brought President Donald Trump to Truist Arena in Highland Heights on Oct. 17 to stump for Ramaswamy and other Republican candidates, Link NKY reported.
Ramaswamy, 41, grew up in Cincinnati and attended St. Xavier High School, according to WLWT. He ran with Ohio Senate President Rob McColley. Acton, 60, a physician who led Ohio's public health response during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, chose Cincinnati native David Pepper as her running mate. Libertarian Don Kissick also appeared on the ballot.
Unofficial results
As of 10:34 p.m. on Nov. 3, with 79.5% of the expected vote counted, Acton held 1,900,498 votes (50.4%) to Ramaswamy's 1,746,119 (46.3%), American Bazaar reported, citing NBC News and AP data. Kissick had 126,561 votes (3.4%).
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% |
Results are unofficial as of 10:34 p.m. on Nov. 3. The Ohio Secretary of State will certify results approximately three weeks after the election.
No Democrat had won Ohio's governor's race since 2006, the Associated Press reported. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine could not run again because of term limits. Both Trump and DeWine had endorsed Ramaswamy, according to PBS NewsHour.
Campaign hit close to home
The race saturated the Greater Cincinnati media market for months. Both candidates held late campaign events in the region. Democrats Acton and former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown rallied voters at Cincinnati's Woodward Theater on Oct. 28, WCPO reported.
At that rally, Acton addressed a campaign ad from Ramaswamy's team that featured her estranged mother. Acton was removed from her mother's custody at age 12 after her stepfather was indicted for raping her, PBS NewsHour reported.
"My opponent has intentionally chosen to use my childhood as a weapon against me to save his struggling campaign, but Mr. Ramaswamy, it's not going to work," Acton told the Cincinnati crowd, according to WCPO.
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 in the race 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.
Trump carried Ohio by more than 11 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election, American Bazaar reported. A Marist Poll conducted Oct. 15 through Oct. 18 had shown Acton leading 50% to 43% among likely voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
Unofficial results will be updated through the Ohio Secretary of State's live results page at LiveResults.OhioSoS.gov.
