Ramaswamy, Acton to square off

Nick Evans/Ohio Capital Journal

Ohio’s race for governor this November is set. Republican Vivek Ramaswamy will face Democrat Amy Acton in November, according to unofficial results.

Results will remain unofficial until they are certified by election officials later this month.

Both major party candidates are political newcomers who’ve distinguished themselves as communicators. They’ll have ample opportunity to make their case.

Acton is breaking Democratic fundraising records in Ohio; according to pre-primary reports her campaign has cleared $10 million. Ramaswamy has spent that much on campaign ads already, and with a $25 million personal loan, appears ready to spend more. And that doesn’t even account for the Super PAC supporting his bid.

Acton, who didn’t have a primary challenger, described herself as a “scrappy kid from Youngstown” in a speech to supporters Tuesday night. She drew comparisons between her own struggles as a child facing homelessness and the challenges Ohioans today face in making ends meet.

“I am running for governor because people in this state are struggling,” Acton said. “They are doing everything right. They’re working harder than they ever have, but there is no more breathing room. They’re struggling with the cost of everyday life, and I refuse to look the other way.”

And Acton needled her opponent for criss-crossing the state in a private jet.

“When you are looking at a state from 30,000 feet, my opponent cannot possibly see the struggles and the stories that I’m hearing on the road,” Acton said. “Vivek Ramaswamy isn’t just out of touch. He is out for himself. That is what is happening here.”

The AP called the Republican primary race for Ramaswamy less than 30 minutes after polls closed.

“I do believe that this marks, without exception, the single most consequential election for governor that our state has ever seen in our history,” Ramaswamy told a crowd of supporters at sports bar in Columbus’ Arena District Tuesday night.

“There has never been a greater contrast between two candidates,” he said, insisting he celebrates success while Acton villainizes it.

“She will remind you every day that I’m a billionaire,” he said, “and I will remind you that I was not born a billionaire. I was not born a millionaire. I was not born an anything-aire.”

On the Libertarian ticket, Don Kissick cruised to a primary win. His only competitor was write-in candidate Travis Jon Vought who received zero votes, according to unofficial results.

Meet the candidates

Acton built a career in public health both as a practicing physician and a teacher at Ohio State University. But her introduction to Ohio voters came as the calming voice alongside Gov. Mike DeWine early in the COVID-19 pandemic. She conveyed empathy and encouragement to Ohioans stuck in their homes, and she had a knack for breaking down complex information in an understandable way.

The rare Democrat in a state government dominated by Republicans for more than a decade, Acton was blamed by some in the GOP for COVID lockdowns. She ended up resigning as state health director in June of 2020, just months after the pandemic began.

Ramaswamy told supporters the COVID lockdowns were bad, but Acton quitting was the greater sin.

“To me, that is the most damning indictment of somebody who wants to lead this state,” he said. “I will never quit on Ohio.”

Ramaswamy is not the first billionaire businessman to try his hand at politics, but that resume isn’t really what brought him here.

About the time he stepped down as CEO of his biotech firm, Ramaswamy wrote the first in a string of books tapping into growing “anti-woke” sentiment on the right. He rode that success to frequent appearances on cable news and then launched a quixotic 2024 presidential bid.

The fast-talking, long-shot candidate made big promises and got under the skin of his Republican rivals.

But Ramaswamy never criticized Donald Trump and later endorsed him after bowing out of the race. He parlayed that support into a short-lived stint at the head of the Department of Government Efficiency alongside Elon Musk.

Primary competition

Since emerging in 2020, Acton has been a high priority recruit for state Democrats. She announced her candidacy in January, 2025, while big name Ohio Democrats were still mulling their 2026 plans.

Following his loss in 2024, former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown left the door open to running for U.S. Senate again or for governor. Last August he decided on a U.S. Senate run. Democratic former U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan weighed his chances for governor or U.S. Senate, too. In the end, he pursued neither.

When Ramaswamy announced he was running for governor in February of 2025, Trump’s endorsement came just hours later. In May of last year, the state party endorsed Ramaswamy. A few days later, his most significant challenger, Attorney General Dave Yost, dropped out of the race. Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel never jumped in.

But Ramaswamy did draw a notable challenger in Casey Putsch. The Perrysburg man has a following on YouTube and started the nonprofit Genius Garage which trains students to build race cars.

Putsch also has a history of Holocaust denial and last month made winking reference to the Beer Hall Putsch — Adolf Hitlers first, failed attempt to gain power — in a Putsch “beer hall rally” in Toledo. On Facebook, Putsch dismissed that characterization as a “psy-op,” and offered to buy a beer for anyone who showed up in a German car.

He’s also made openly race-based attacks against Ramaswamy and courted ‘groypers’ — a far-right fringe group known for nativism and antisemitism.