After a high-spending race that plumbed the depths of political attacks, Dr. Amy Acton, a Democrat who served during the pandemic as Ohio’s chief public health officer, has been elected the state’s next governor, becoming the first woman to win the office, The Associated Press reported on Tuesday.
She defeated Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican who made a fortune in pharmaceutical start-ups and had President Trump’s endorsement. She is only the second Democrat to win the governor’s office in Ohio in 35 years.
It was a remarkable achievement for Dr. Acton, 60, whose troubled childhood was thrust into the center of the campaign in its final weeks. Her candidacy had initially seemed like a long shot, given Ohio’s longtime Republican leanings and Mr. Ramaswamy’s canyon-deep pockets.
Though her daily briefings early during the Covid pandemic had been well-received, observers of the race wondered if unpleasant memories of that time, and of unpopular government interventions to prevent Covid’s spread, would become liabilities for her campaign.
But as endorsements piled up for Mr. Ramaswamy, Dr. Acton stuck to a message focused on the high cost of living, emphasizing her roots in the tough-luck city of Youngstown in contrast with her opponent’s enormous wealth.
The mood of Ohio voters began to turn as prices stayed stubbornly high and the Ramaswamy campaign released a series of intensely personal attack ads, including one in late October that featured Dr. Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur, calling her a liar.
The ad drew national condemnation and refocused attention on her family’s troubled history. In 1978, a grand jury had indicted Ms. Arthur’s second husband — Dr. Acton’s stepfather — on charges of raping Dr. Acton, who was 12 at the time. He and Ms. Arthur then fled Ohio, and Dr. Acton and her mother have not spoken since.
People across the political spectrum expressed sympathy for Dr. Acton, though Mr. Ramaswamy and Mr. Trump defended the ad.
The ad may have been a final straw for some undecided voters, but Dr. Acton had been leading in many polls before it ran. At a time of economic discontent, she supported putting more restrictions on the building of data centers, proposed new child tax credits and raised the idea of a gas tax holiday, which Mr. Ramaswamy copied and pushed Republican state lawmakers to approve.
Dr. Acton’s platform did not have the kind of dramatically ambitious ideas that Mr. Ramaswamy espoused, such as consolidating state universities or phasing out the state income tax completely. But it apparently appealed to voters just trying to afford daily necessities.
Dr. Acton’s personal story also seemed to resonate with voters. She was homeless for a period in her childhood, but after her mother lost custody, she found some stability living with her biological father. She entered an accelerated medical school program straight out of high school, and went on to a career in public health, with a focus on children’s health.
In 2019, Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, appointed Dr. Acton as director of the Ohio Department of Health. In January, she will succeed him.
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