Republican Vivek Ramaswamy conceded Ohio’s governor’s race shortly after 11 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, minutes after major networks projected Democrat Amy Acton the winner.
With nearly 90% of the vote counted, Acton led Ramaswamy 51.1% to 45.6% in unofficial returns. Ohioans last elected a Democratic governor in 2006, and no woman had won the office before Acton, 60. She prevailed in a state that Donald Trump carried by 11 points in 2024.
Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur and former presidential candidate, told supporters in his concession speech that he hoped Ohio would achieve great things under Acton. “We wish them well,” he said. He had left Acton a congratulatory message earlier in the night and said he hoped she could unify Ohioans going forward.
Sponsored · Selkirk Copper Mines
Acton, a former state health director, promised to govern for all Ohioans and said the state had chosen “unity and decency over division and hate.” Jessica Mackler, president of EMILY’s List, called the result a “historic victory.”
The October ad
The race turned in October, when Ramaswamy’s campaign announced a $4 million buy for a commercial in which Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, accuses her daughter of dishonesty. Acton has said she has not seen her mother since 1978, the year Acton’s stepfather faced an indictment on a charge of raping her at age 12. Ramaswamy’s campaign dropped the commercial roughly a week before Election Day, having run only about a quarter of the $4 million it had announced. Ramaswamy defended the ad and did not apologize for it.
Republicans and Democrats alike condemned the commercial. Gov. Mike DeWine, who endorsed Ramaswamy, called it “deeply troubling” and urged the campaign to take it down, though he kept his endorsement in place. Five Ohio governors from both parties, three Republicans and two Democrats among them, denounced the spot.
Trump took the opposite position, defending the ad at an October 28 rally in Chillicothe, saying a mother’s criticism of her daughter was not Ramaswamy’s problem.
Republican internal polling in late October showed Ramaswamy falling further behind after the commercial aired, and Sen. Jon Husted said he would not have run it. On October 23, a leading election forecaster moved the race from toss-up to Lean Democrat.
A second Ohio loss
Husted lost his seat Tuesday to former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who led 49% to 46% with about 90% of the expected vote reporting.
Ad-tracking figures from early October showed Republican-aligned groups outspending their Democratic counterparts by more than two to one, at more than $100 million against about $40 million. Donations from billionaires Elon Musk and Jeffrey Yass helped fund a super PAC backing Ramaswamy.
Ramaswamy slipped in polling once the commercial ran, and some commentators now ask whether his own campaign cost him a race he could have won.
