Amy Acton seeks Ohio governor seat in 2026

Amy Acton, a Democrat and former director of the Ohio Department of Health, is running for governor in the Nov. 3 general election. She faces Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Libertarian Don Kissick, according to BallotReady election data.

Acton announced her candidacy on Jan. 7, 2025, according to her Wikipedia biography. She chose former Ohio Democratic Party chair David Pepper as her running mate in January 2026.

Candidate information

Party: Democratic
Office sought: Ohio Governor
Election date: Nov. 3, 2026
Birthplace: Youngstown, Ohio (born Feb. 16, 1966)
Education: Bachelor's degree from Youngstown State University; doctorate in medicine from Northeast Ohio Medical University (1990); master's in public health from The Ohio State University

Acton was the first woman to serve as director of the Ohio Department of Health, according to her Wikipedia biography. She received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2021 for her work in that role. USA Today named her Ohio Woman of the Year in 2022.

Experience and public service

Acton served as health director from 2019 to 2020, according to BallotReady profile data. She then served as chief health advisor in the Office of Governor Mike DeWine in 2020.

Before entering public service, Acton completed residency training at Nationwide Children's Hospital and Ohio State University and trained at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She served as an associate professor at The Ohio State University and as community research and grants management officer at The Columbus Foundation, according to BallotReady.

After leaving state government, Acton helped found the Center for Human Kindness at the Columbus Foundation. She served as president and chief executive officer of RAPID 5 from 2022 to 2023. She also directed Project LOVE (Love Our Kids, Vaccinate Early).

On the issues

The following positions are stated by Acton on her campaign website.

Healthcare and costs: Acton said she would use state power to reduce prescription drug costs, crack down on pharmacy benefit managers, demand more transparency from hospitals and insurance companies and work to erase medical debt. She said she would fight to ensure every Ohioan can access basic medical care. On energy, Acton said new data centers are causing utility bills to increase and pledged that consumers and other ratepayers would not shoulder those added costs.

Education: Acton said she would restore public school funding to a constitutional level, gain control of what she called an opaque private school voucher system with runaway costs and invest savings in students and teachers.

Economy and workers: Acton said she would conduct a top-to-bottom review of JobsOhio, requiring more transparency and accountability. She said she would support small businesses, expand workforce development and invest in infrastructure including broadband and transportation. On labor, Acton said she would stand up for union and collective bargaining rights, combat wage theft and keep right-to-work legislation out of Ohio.

Public safety: Acton said she would fully fund police and public safety and rebuild state and local partnerships. She also said she would undertake what she called common sense reforms to reduce gun violence.

Government reform: Acton said she would mandate more disclosure, reform campaign finance and open bidding and contracting processes to ensure decisions serve the public rather than private interests.