Amy Acton
Recent media appearances
Top articles
19 News (WOIO)Acton outlines affordability plan, defends refusal to debate RamaswamyOct 20, 2026
Signal OhioAmy Acton refuses to debate Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio governor's raceSep 3, 2026
Signal OhioAmy Acton is betting that breaking with Democrats can help win OhioAug 25, 2026
Signal OhioAmy Acton would put conditions on new Ohio data centers - but not the size of their tax breaksJul 28, 2026
Jewish InsiderAmy Acton became a household name in Ohio - now, she wants to be governorJan 16, 2026
Overview
Amy Acton is a physician and public health expert who grew up in Youngstown. Gov. Mike DeWine appointed her director of the Ohio Department of Health in 2019, and she led the department during the early COVID-19 pandemic before resigning in June 2020. wcpo.com jewishinsider.com
She was the Democratic nominee for Ohio governor in 2026, running with former Ohio Democratic Party chair David Pepper as her lieutenant governor pick, against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy. news5cleveland.com cleveland19.com
Her campaign said she would not debate Ramaswamy, citing attack ads aired by Ramaswamy and his allies. Acton said she had been answering voters' questions on the campaign trail instead. signalohio.org cleveland19.com
Platform
- Proposes a Working Families Tax Cut, including a child tax credit of $1,000 a year for children up to age 6 and $500 a year for ages 7 to 18 in families earning up to $85,000.actonforgovernor.com
- Proposes expanding the homestead exemption to help seniors with property taxes and says she would work to lower electric bills.cleveland19.com
- Proposes an online platform called Ohio Rx that would use the state's Medicaid pharmacy benefit manager contract to negotiate lower drug prices for all Ohioans.actonforgovernor.com
- Says that on her first day in office she would direct the state to work toward relieving medical debt.actonforgovernor.com
- Proposes day-one executive orders creating an anti-corruption task force and requiring bidders on state contracts above $50,000 to disclose ownership and political contributions.actonforgovernor.com
- Says she would restore public school funding to a constitutional level and implement the Fair School Funding Plan.actonforgovernor.com
- Proposes a conditional moratorium on new data centers that would require developers to cover their own power, water and gas costs, use union labor and build on former commercial or industrial land.signalohio.org
- Says she would protect access to abortion, contraception, fertility treatment and miscarriage care and oppose efforts to weaken Issue 1.actonforgovernor.com