2026 US midterm elections: Vivek Ramaswamy loses to Democrat Amy Acton in Ohio governor race — What we know so far | Today’s news
Indian-American Republican leader Vivek Ramaswamy suffered a major setback when he lost the Ohio governor’s race against Democrat Amy Acton, according to US media.
Acton will now become the first Democrat elected governor of Ohio in two decades and the first woman to hold the seat, surpassing the unprecedented $100 million spent against her to win the race.
Read also | 2026 US midterm election results: Democrats flip two Senate seats
Acton, 60, succeeds GOP Gov. Mike DeWine, whom she served alongside during the early months of the pandemic. But she takes office with no electoral experience, in stark contrast to her 79-year-old former boss, who is term-limited and likely to retire from elective politics after 50 years.
Amy Acton won 50.4 percent of the vote, while Ramaswamy won 46.3 percent of the vote at 8:40 am (IST), according to NBC News. “Vivek Ramaswamy would need 53.9% of the remaining votes to catch or overtake Amy Acton, who is leading,” the report added.
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As of 8:40 am IST, Democrat Amy Acton led Republican Vivk Ramaswamy with 50.4% of the vote to his 46.3%, according to NBC News.
The candidates were Democratic candidate Amy Acton, a physician and former director of the Ohio Department of Health, and Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, a businessman and politician.
If Acton wins, she would be the first Democrat elected governor of Ohio in two decades and the state’s first female governor.
Ramaswamy became the first Indian-American governor of Ohio. The article also states that he would be the second richest governor in the US.
According to the Associated Press, spending at the plant exceeded an unprecedented $100 million.
CNN also projected that Democrat Amy Acton would defeat Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in the Ohio governor race. Many American media did not cover the election.
Who is Amy Acton?
Amy Acton is a public health physician and former state health director during the COVID-19 era. She campaigned tirelessly for affordability and better access to health care, appealing to working- and middle-class voters by emphasizing her hardscrabble roots as an Ohio native who spent part of her childhood homeless and lived in a tent for one winter.
Acton’s victory was a huge win for a party that has fallen out of power in a former swing state that Democrats have all but written off as voters have shifted to Republicans during the Trump era.
Amy Acton grew up in Youngstown, Ohio under difficult circumstances. “But that’s what made Amy tough — and now Amy is running for governor to fight for every Ohio family struggling today,” information on her campaign page read.
According to the details, Amy endured periods of abuse, starvation and neglect, and even ended up in a tent in the middle of winter. “This challenging upbringing shaped the values and determination that shaped a career dedicated to uplifting others,” he added.
Who is Vivek Ramaswamy?
Vivek Ramaswamy is an Indian-born entrepreneur and politician who made millions from pharmaceutical start-ups and briefly ran for president in 2024.
After Trump’s election victory, he was chosen to co-head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with Elon Musk, but later left the initiative to pursue his political ambitions.
US President Donald Trump supported Ramaswamy, saying in a post on social media: “I know Vivek well, he competed with him and he is something SPECIAL. He is young, strong and smart! Vivek is also a very good person who really loves our country.”
Trump, meanwhile, called Ramaswamy’s opponent, Amy Acton, “a radical left democrat who wants massive tax increases, open borders, men playing women’s sports and transgender mutilation of your children.”
Should Trump-backed Ramaswamy win the Ohio governor’s race, he would become Ohio’s first Indian-American governor and the second-richest governor in the US, Forbes reported.
Ramaswamy and his ten years older wife Dr. Apoorva Ramaswamy (a neck surgeon at Ohio State) is raising their family in Columbus, Ohio.
Ramaswamy’s campaign is running on a conservative, pro-business agenda and seeks to expand economic opportunity, empower parents in education and strengthen local communities in all 88 Ohio counties, according to his website.
Vivek is now running as the Republican candidate for governor of Ohio in 2026 against Democratic candidate Amy Acton, a physician and former director of the Ohio Department of Health.
Ramaswamy’s campaign offers a vision focused on free market growth, regulation, tax relief and strict government spending accountability.
The main source of Ramaswamy’s wealth is Roivant Sciences, a biopharmaceutical and healthcare company he founded in 2014. The company’s stock has performed well in 2025 after brepocitinib, its autoimmune disease drug candidate, reported encouraging results in Phase 3 clinical trials.
