By David Wright
Democrat Amy Acton will be elected Ohio’s next governor, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, defeating Republican Vivek Ramaswamy after the race garnered national attention over a controversial attack ad.
Acton is the first Democrat to win Ohio’s governorship since 2006 and the first woman ever elected to the office. She succeeds term-limited GOP Gov. Mike DeWine.
Acton is a physician and was DeWine’s health director. She withstood relentless attacks over her Covid-19 record, as Ramaswamy and his allies outspent her on ads by more than 2-to-1 over the final eight weeks of the race.
But a controversial attack ad featuring her estranged mother roiled the closing weeks of the campaign, with several Republicans in the state criticizing Ramaswamy for continuing to air the video. Acton’s mother lost custody of her and her brother when Acton was 12 years old. Her stepfather was indicted by a grand jury on charges of sexually abusing her.
Campaigning on affordability, Acton pitched property tax cuts targeted at middle-income and older Ohioans, and a moratorium on data centers unless they cover their own utility costs.
She cast her Republican opponent, a Trump-endorsed biotech entrepreneur, as an out-of-touch billionaire looking out for himself, capitalizing on Ramaswamy’s uneven campaign trail performance and sometimes combative relationship with his own party.
The-CNN-Wire
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