Amy Acton wins Ohio governor race after bitter race with billionaire Ramaswamy
Getty ImagesDemocrat Amy Acton has defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy to win the Ohio governorship in a bitterly contested race.
With the projected victory, Acton becomes the first Democrat and the first ever woman to win the Ohio governor's race in two decades.
Ohio, a key battleground for much of the 2000s, has voted for Republican Donald Trump in the last three presidential elections, including by 11 points in 2024.
But the gubernatorial race, where voter frustration over the economy and the cost of living was the central theme, took an unexpected turn after the Ramaswamy campaign released a deeply personal attack ad featuring Acton's estranged mother.
In the ad, Acton's mother Donna Arthur said her daughter "lied her entire life". It did not mention that Arthur's husband was charged with raping Acton when she was a child.
The controversial advert loomed over the last weeks of the race. It was criticised by former South Carolina Governor Republican Nikki Haley, while Ohio's current Republican Governor Mike DeWine called it "deeply troubling".
However, some defended it, including President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance.
Trump described it as "powerful" and encouraged Ramaswamy to keep it running, while Vance, the state's former senator, said he would like fellow Republicans to stop "whining" about the ad and that he was "a little bit disgusted" by criticism from members of his own party.
Bloomberg via Getty ImagesRamaswamy said his campaign would spend $4m (£3m) to air the ad across the state.
After the ad began airing, the editorial board of local Ohio news outlet the Columbus Dispatch endorsed Acton, describing the ad as "revolting and unsettling".
The billionaire biotech entrepreneur ran against Trump for the Republican nomination in 2024. He switched gears to the Ohio governor's race and pitched himself as a political outsider - like Trump - who wanted to develop the president's "America First" agenda.
In his concession speech, Ramaswamy said he is "rooting" for the state, as well as Acton.
Acton is a physician and public health official who talked about her experience with homelessness as a child while campaigning for affordability.
In her acceptance speech on Tuesday, she said "the healing begins today".
"My promise to Ohio, to those who voted for me and those who did not, is that I will work with anyone and everyone, and I always have to make life better for Ohioans," she said.
Acton succeeds Republican Governor Mike DeWine, who is term limited.
Ohio is a swing state that voted for Trump in the 2024 election, but now Republican candidates are facing close challenges across the country.
Democrat Sherrod Brown wins back his old Senate seat from Republican
Democrat Sherrod Brown has re-gained his Senate seat, after defeating Republican Jon Husted in one of the most expensive races this election cycle.
Husted was appointed to the role in 2025 by the state's Republican governor, after JD Vance left the position to become vice-president - but Brown took it for Democrats tonight.
He will return to Congress in January where had spent three decades before losing the seat in 2024, as President Donald Trump and Republicans swept the state.
But as Trump's approval ratings fell, and voter disatisfaction with the economy grew, Democrats placed their bets on Brown and his strong name recognition.
The win solidifies Brown, 73, as the most successful Democrat in Ohio over the last 30 years, according to NBC News.
"This victory belongs to all of us," he wrote on X. "Thank you, Ohio."
