Last week, Dr. Amy Acton, the former state health director, became the first Democrat to announce a bid for governor in 2026. But she’s best known for helping Republican Gov. Mike DeWine chart the state’s course through the coronavirus pandemic of 2020.
In an interview with Signal Statewide on Wednesday, Acton said she doesn’t think Democratic primary voters will hold her work with a Republican administration against her, nor does she think Ohioans will outright reject a Democratic candidate for governor despite the state’s rightward tilt.
“I very much believe in the power of people and the power of communities, and I have seen Ohioans over and over again be very independent-thinking,” Acton said.
To help her campaign, Acton has enlisted two veteran Democratic consultants with close ties to former longtime Sen. Sherrod Brown – Justin Barasky, a strategic media consultant who held high-level positions with Brown’s 2012 and 2018 campaigns, and Kimberly Padilla, Brown’s longtime finance director. No other Democrats have yet to declare, although potential candidates include Brown and Tim Ryan, a former congressman. Whoever wins will face the Republican gubernatorial nominee in November 2026 – DeWine can’t run for reelection due to term limits.
Signal Statewide asked Acton what her time in the pandemic hot box taught her, whether she thinks lingering controversy over the pandemic might weigh her down and why she thinks she might win regardless.
Note: Questions and answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.
Why are you running for governor?
As you know, I’ve been through a lot with Ohioans. Serving as I did, both alongside the governor and as a doctor, was the honor of a lifetime. My career in preventive medicine has always been about solving the hardest problems communities face. Traveling Ohio and hearing people’s struggles brought me to this point.
I’m running because I refuse to look the other way while Ohioans are struggling. We’re seeing special interests and some politicians take our state in the wrong direction. Most Ohioans I speak to feel deeply that it’s time for a change.
What qualifies you to be governor?
It’s the most important position in the state, and I have such reverence for this work. I’m a doctor, I’m not a lifelong politician, but what I consider myself more to be is a problem solver and a public servant.
The problems we face are not Democrat or Republican or independent. They’re just problems, and what we face now are bad actors who are using things like culture wars that divide people. But when I go around Ohio, I hear so much about all people hold dear, the basic things they’re struggling with and I just refuse to look the other way.
What’s unique about me is Ohioans have seen me lead. It’s very rare to run a crisis. For me, feeling responsible for what felt like 11.7 million patients, I felt a sort of bonding, and I grew to care very deeply.
What did you learn from being thrown into the limelight during the pandemic?
I think everything you see about me in this became trying to get to problems and seeing the problems and preventing problems from getting worse.
In COVID, that was exactly my job. My job was to give people the honest truth and the knowledge and the facts as we knew it. Because what actually happened was we flattened the curve in Ohio, and there’s good data that shows that. What I gave was information to people where they sat so that they could run their business, their hospital, their prison, their family. All of us had to row together to solve problems, and that is what a governor’s job is.
Were you surprised how polarized the public response was?
Well, you have to start out with the fact that nobody went unscathed. Sadly, we all had a common enemy, except it happened to be a virus.
We knew from the pandemic of 1918 that there were even anti-mask societies back then, so those things weren’t surprising. Also, from March of 2020 on, I had [security] protection because there were things on the dark web, including what we saw with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer [who was the subject of a kidnapping plot].
But I always say to people everywhere I go, and I had the privilege to see this firsthand, is that there was so much more love than hate in the state, and that is very, very important for people to understand. I saw folks face one of the hardest things we’ll all go through in our lifetimes. We’ve lost more people than all wars combined. It’s unspeakable what we went through. And then we’ll make meaning out of it, ultimately. So it was actually an honor to serve during that and as you can see, I would do it again.
Is there anything with the benefit of hindsight that you would have done differently?
The traditional thing you do after any emergency preparedness or crisis is a “hot wash.” You study what went right and wrong. Everyone would, you know, in hindsight, always learn from that. And I suggest that’s what we need to do with a 9/11-style commission.
That said, I’m very proud of our work.
What are the biggest issues facing Ohio today?
When I go around Ohio, they’re not talking about culture-war issues. What they’re talking about is the cost of groceries and gas. They’re also talking about childcare. They’re talking about aging in place and worrying about taxes and being able to stay in their home. People are talking about the need for home healthcare to be easily afforded.
People are talking about schools right now very much. Public school saved my life as a kid. People want to know that their kids have a good education and have a chance at the American dream. They’re talking about safety, and they’re talking about starting businesses and sometimes finding it hard to do that.
I don’t think these issues are partisan. I just think there are things that all of us need a little more breathing room.
How do you think the DeWine administration has done in addressing those issues?
It was a privilege to work with the governor, and when I was first approached for the job, my decision was to work with someone who wanted to solve problems, to put party aside. We need more people stepping into the public sphere, which we know is not easy to do these days.
So I know the governor cares about the people of Ohio, and while we don’t agree on every issue, I continue to advise him, both formally and informally, on the issues where we can solve problems.
What makes you think you can win a Democratic primary election after serving in a Republican administration?
First of all, I have an amazing bond with the people of Ohio. Everywhere I go, I can be in a grocery store or restaurant, people come up to me. I think we have a relationship that is quite unique. And as I said, people don’t even see themselves under a political label. They’re just non-partisan.
I wouldn’t run for office if I didn’t see a path. I do see a path, and a lot of my understanding we will share more and more of after we do a lot of listening around the state.
How can you win a general election in a state that Donald Trump easily won, especially given how he campaigned against public-health experts?
I’m a doctor, not a politician. And I’m definitely not a political pundit. That said, I’ve been blessed by being able to learn from so many people in the work I’ve done in my life.
… And I believe that what people are looking for is a leader who does not look the other way but sees the struggles they are facing, understands that we are going in the wrong direction, and who actually brings people to the table to solve the problems we care about.
