Ohio made history Tuesday night when voters elected moderate Democrat Amy Acton as its first female and first Jewish governor, a feat that seemed unimaginable a few months ago.
Back in April, polls showed Acton behind or even with her opponent, billionaire Republican Vivek Ramaswamy. But as the campaign progressed, Ramaswamy launched a slew of attacks that made the race the nastiest governor’s contest in the country. The vilest ad featured Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur, calling her daughter a liar and casting doubt on her fitness to lead. Arthur stood by her husband, who was arrested and charged with raping Acton when she was 12, making the “liar” comment all the more hideous.
The Youngstown native also has a fighter’s mentality that belies her soft-spoken nature. She won’t be a pushover for Republicans — or anyone.
As governor, Acton will face resistance from Republicans and Democrats while confronting the challenges and pressures of being a first-time elected official.
The GOP-controlled state House and state Senate are unlikely to help her achieve policy wins. During her campaign, she advocated for free breakfast and lunch for school students, child tax credits for low- and middle-income families and requiring data centers to pay for their own electricity. These sensible policies will likely be lost to partisanship.
Acton will also face pressure from her fellow Democrats, who are unaccustomed to holding the state’s highest office. She’ll become just the third Democratic governor in the past 50 years, after Richard Celeste (1983-91) and Ted Strickland (2007-11).
Acton has vowed to work with Republicans and has already taken positions that antagonized parts of her base. LGBTQ+ advocates accused her of making trans people a political talking point when she said she didn’t support “boys playing girls sports.” She backed an amendment that would enshrine voter ID requirements in the state constitution, and said local police should work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Conservatives have embraced those issues, leaving the left flummoxed as to why Acton would join with them.
But the Youngstown native also has a fighter’s mentality that belies her soft-spoken nature. She won’t be a pushover for Republicans — or anyone.
It’s too soon to tell whether Acton’s win makes Ohio a purple state again. An unpopular president, a bad economy and a terrible GOP nominee all led to Acton’s win.
This will be only the second high-profile role in government for Acton. Her first came in 2019, when Gov. Mike DeWine appointed her to lead the department of health, and she served as Covid czar in 2020. She was praised from afar for her calm demeanor but vilified by those who opposed stay-at-home orders and other mandates DeWine ordered and she implemented. She resigned in June 2020 because she feared she would be pressured by a hostile legislature to sign orders she didn’t believe in.
Now Acton will oversee the seventh most populous state in the U.S. (11.9 million) with the country’s seventh-largest gross domestic product, and a $3.7 billion biannual budget the legislature will take up in early 2027. That’s a big job for someone who has never held elected office.
She takes over as the state’s CEO as economic pressures increase. High gas prices, about $4.20 for regular and $6.30 for the diesel farmers need, remain top of mind for consumers. Because of federal government cutbacks, more than 100,000 Ohioans, including 60,000 children, have lost food assistance benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Residents are buckling under electric costs that have increased 34% since 2022.
She makes a worthy successor to DeWine, who was term-limited out of office. DeWine is a moderate whose compassion often drove his decisions, such as advocating for the Haitian community in Springfield. He called the federal government’s plan to deport immigrants a “mistake,” and he held his ground in the face of criticism from his own party.
It’s too soon to tell whether Acton’s win makes Ohio a purple state again. An unpopular president, a bad economy and a terrible GOP nominee all led to this outcome. Given her demeanor and compassion, however, her victory sends the message that decency can triumph.
Now comes the hard part: governing.
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