Amy Acton Defeats Vivek Ramaswamy to Become Ohio’s First Woman Governor
Democrat Amy Acton, a physician and former state health director, beat Trump-backed Vivek Ramaswamy in an upset that ends 20 years of Republican control of the Ohio governorship.
Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has lost the race for governor of Ohio. Democrat Dr Amy Acton won Tuesday’s election in what The Associated Press described as an upset, becoming the first Democrat to win the post in two decades and the first woman ever elected to lead the state.
Ramaswamy, a biotech billionaire who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, had the backing of President Donald Trump. Groups opposed to Acton spent more than $100 million against her during the campaign.
Who is Amy Acton?
Acton is a public health physician who served as Ohio’s health director during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic. She built her campaign around the cost of living and wider access to healthcare, and often spoke about her difficult childhood in Ohio, which included a period of homelessness when her family lived in a tent through one winter.
In her victory speech in Columbus, she repeated a campaign promise to cool down the state’s politics and to listen to every Ohioan as governor.
Why it matters in India
Ramaswamy’s run drew wide interest in India, where his name was among the top searches on Google on Wednesday morning. His defeat came on a night when Democrats also took control of the US Senate and made strong gains in the House, a result widely seen as a setback for Trump midway through his second term.
Featured image: Photo: puroticorico, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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