Amy Acton beats Vivek Ramaswamy: Latest Ohio governor election results

Democrat Amy Acton defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in the Ohio governor's race after a closing stretch that saw a controversial attack ad featuring Acton's estranged mother, according to Decision Desk HQ and NBC.

Acton, the former Director of the Ohio Department of Health, defeated Ramaswamy, who ran for president in 2024 and then subsequently co-led the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with billionaire Elon Musk.

The last couple of weeks of the gubernatorial race were marred by a controversial attack ad that featured Acton’s estranged mother calling the Democratic candidate a liar. The ad quickly sparked backlash from both sides of the aisle, after the Acton campaign said she had not spoken to her mother since she was 12. In 1978, Acton's stepfather, Cledith Arthur, was indicted by a grand jury and charged with sexually abusing her. Arthur's rape charge led to him and his wife, Donna Stearns Arthur, losing custody of Acton and her siblings.

Ohio governor race results

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.