Amy Acton wins firefighter nod as Ohio race intensifies

Democrat Amy Acton is pressing a visible ground campaign across Ohio fairgrounds and union halls while Republican Vivek Ramaswamy leans on TV ads and town halls, as former Gov. Richard Celeste and the Ohio Association of Professional Firefighters back Acton ahead of the Nov. 3 election. That contrast—people power versus paid airtime—now defines the race to replace term-limited Gov. Mike DeWine, and it matters for every Ohioan watching grocery bills, gas prices, and property taxes.

Key Takeaways

• Amy Acton is running a highly visible ground campaign, with former Democratic Gov. Richard Celeste campaigning for her at county fairs and community events across Ohio.
• The Ohio Association of Professional Firefighters endorsed Acton in Cincinnati, praising her pandemic-era leadership and union stance.
• Ramaswamy’s campaign, per Columbus Dispatch columnist Thomas Suddes, appears more TV-focused and negative toward Acton.
• Acton is framing the race around cost of living, working-family tax cuts, and fully funded public schools; Ramaswamy’s team cites police, manufacturers, and chamber endorsements plus town halls.
• Election Day is Nov. 3, 2026, with less than 100 days remaining when the firefighter endorsement was announced.

What is happening in the Amy Acton vs. Vivek Ramaswamy race?

Ohio’s gubernatorial contest pits Democrat Dr. Amy Acton against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy. Both are competing to succeed DeWine, who is term-limited at the end of the year, according to WLWT.

In a Aug. 2 Columbus Dispatch opinion column, former legislative reporter Thomas Suddes argued that Acton’s campaign looks far more visible as a ground game than the television war Ramaswamy is waging. Suddes wrote that Acton’s volunteers are “motivated by what they see around them in Ohio – not on TV.”

Former two-term Democratic Gov. Richard F. Celeste has joined Acton’s trail at events including the Clermont County Fair in Owensville and the Butler County Fair in Hamilton, plus stops in Licking, Tuscarawas, Stark, Cuyahoga, and Archbold-area gatherings. Celeste said he judges a campaign by its energy and found crowds “uniformly upbeat,” with people not normally involved wanting to help Acton become governor.

“My sense is that folks are attracted to Amy Acton’s honesty and positive energy,” Celeste wrote, adding that he saw Acton signs in Butler and Clark counties but “not a sign for Ramaswamy.” He framed the contest as “a campaign of people power vs. big money,” arguing that negative ads from the Ramaswamy side add “the smell of desperation.”

Why did firefighters endorse Amy Acton for governor?

On Monday in Cincinnati, the Ohio Association of Professional Firefighters officially endorsed Acton, WLWT and WCPO reported. Union President Jon Harvey said endorsement decisions are bipartisan and turn on who cares most about firefighter issues, not party labels.

“Dr. Acton recognizes what collective bargaining means to this state, understands what unions mean to this state. She stood on the picket lines with our brothers and sisters,” Harvey said, per WCPO.

Acton accepted the nod by pledging to fight for firefighters and union workers and calling herself ready to be “the most pro-union, pro-labor governor there ever has been.” She credited first responders and neighbors who helped her during a tough childhood in Youngstown, saying she would not be where she is without “the kindness of folks that run toward fires and not away.”

Steve Stein, director of government affairs for the Ohio Association of Professional Firefighters, pushed back against negative ads targeting Acton’s COVID-19 response. He called her work “leadership, proven leadership,” grouping Acton with DeWine and frontline firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics whose safety decisions, he said, were not partisan.

For readers tracking how politics intersects with household budgets and long-term financial security, BlasterPost’s Wealth Hacks & Passive Income coverage follows the pocketbook themes candidates are elevating statewide.

How do Acton and Ramaswamy differ on money and management?

Suddes noted that Ohio governor’s races, at their core, are about management and the economy—grocery bills, gas prices, and taxes. He described Ramaswamy’s pitch as largely composed of tax cuts, while noting Ohio is not a notably high-tax state and that tax burdens would be lighter if state government bore more of the cost of local public schools.

Acton, speaking in Cincinnati, said the unifying theme of her agenda is cost of living. “It’s absolutely the fact that people are working harder than they’ve ever worked in their entire lives, they’re doing everything right, but it just doesn’t add up,” she told WCPO.

She said her policies would help lower health-care costs and property taxes, fully fund public schools, and deliver tax breaks for the working class rather than billionaires. “We’re putting policies out there that cut taxes, not for people at a billion plus, my opponents' friends like Elon Musk,” Acton said. “We’re doing working families tax cut for the rest of us.”

Acton also tied the endorsement to workforce goals, saying that alongside educators she wants to build “21st century education, workforce training, apprenticeships” so every kid has access. She argued Ohio’s next governor should fight for everyday Ohioans, not “out of state billionaires.”

Background from Suddes: Acton is a Youngstown-born physician, age 60, living in Bexley, who served as state health director under Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. Ramaswamy, a Cincinnati native who lives in Upper Arlington, is a successful entrepreneur turning 41 on Aug. 9. Late in 2024 he moved Strive Asset Management’s headquarters from Columbus to Dallas—a move Democrats have criticized as inconsistent with vows to boost Ohio economic development.

What is Ramaswamy’s campaign saying in response?

WCPO asked Ramaswamy’s team for comment on Acton’s claims and the firefighter endorsement. A campaign spokesperson replied that in the last month Vivek secured endorsements from the Fraternal Order of Police (described as the largest labor union representing police officers across Ohio), the Ohio Manufacturers' Association, and the Chamber of Commerce, among others.

The statement contrasted Ramaswamy’s “unfiltered town halls with thousands of voters across the state” with a claim that Acton “continues to hide and refuses to take voter questions,” challenging her “handlers” to let her answer voters directly.

WLWT noted that less than 100 days separated the firefighter endorsement week from Election Day, and that Ramaswamy had been in Clermont County the prior Friday speaking to voters at the county fair—the same region where Celeste later highlighted Acton-friendly energy.

Polls, WCPO reported, show the race between Acton and Ramaswamy has been neck and neck. Acton’s answer on how she plans to win: draw a “very clear contrast” between an opponent she calls out of touch and focused on billionaires’ wants, and her own fight for everyday Ohioans.

Suddes concluded that Celeste’s enthusiasm and public participation amount to a vote of confidence TV ads cannot muster—and that Acton’s other volunteers are walking that same talk. For primary source detail on Celeste’s fairground tour and the people-power framing, see the Columbus Dispatch opinion column by Thomas Suddes.