‘It is time for a change.' Dr. Amy Acton talks about running for Ohio governor, reflects on COVID-19
During a recent forum, former Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton emphasized her role as a public servant, not a politician, in her 2026 run for governor.
Acton is currently the sole Democratic candidate running for Ohio Governor in the 2026 election.
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'I am a doctor. I'm definitely not a politician, but I have been a lifelong public servant,' Acton said last week during a forum at the City Club of Cleveland.
'I'm running for governor because people in Ohio are struggling, and we continue to go backwards on nearly every measure because of special interests and bad actors at our Statehouse who keep taking us in the wrong direction,' she said. 'It is time for a change, and I hear this everywhere I go.'
Acton gave a 30 minute speech which included talking about experiencing homelessness as a child, serving as the ODH director during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ohio's need for change, and kindness.
'All too often, kindness is mistaken for weakness, and that is a big mistake,' she said. 'Everywhere I go, people are telling me that they want public servants again. They want us solving the problems of everyday life that we all face that aren't political.'
Those problems, she said, include the cost of living, aging in place, child care, safety, and schools. She also spoke out against gerrymandering, lack of maternity units in hospitals, and cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. She also highlighted the importance of working together to tackle issues facing Ohioans.
'You get people from every sector around the table because the wicked hard things we face, like housing affordability, can't be solved by one area alone,' she said. 'It can't be solved by government alone. It takes non-profits and academics and universities and businesses all around the table trying to row in the same direction.'
Acton, who is open about the struggles she experienced as a child, grew up in Youngstown.
'I had a very, very rough childhood, very bad abuse and neglect up to the age of 12 (and) ultimately ended up homeless in the middle of winter,' she said.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Acton to be ODH director in 2019 and she quickly became a household name in Ohio during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. She accompanied DeWine during his daily afternoon press conferences in the spring of 2020 and helped translate complex medical terminology into plain English.
'It was a profound honor to lead during COVID,' she said. 'We literally flatten the curve. There's great data now that shows it, and Ohioans rallied in every possible way. We saved a lot of lives, but most importantly, we're also able to open earlier than a lot of places and get back to our lives because we took decisive action.'
She received a mix of praise and criticism, and protesters showed up to her Bexley house. Acton resigned as state health director in June 2020 — months after Ohio's first confirmed COVID-19 case.
She said she didn't step down because of the backlash she was receiving, but instead it was because she refused to sign an order.
'There was an order that was so egregious I could not do it … because it would have broken the Hippocratic Oath, it would have hurt people,' she said. 'I could not sign my name to that order.'
Acton said she was originally approached to run for office by two prominent Ohio Democrats — former Ohio Gov. Dick Celeste and former U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, 'because I have a very strange constituency that does not know party, a bond formed during COVID.'
Democrats are waiting to see if Brown will run for Senate or Ohio governor, or nothing at all. Currently, gaming and technology businessman Chris Volpe, of Columbus, is the only announced Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in 2026.
The Ohio Republican Party endorsed businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. Former Morgan County school board president Heather Hill is the only other GOP candidate running for governor, but Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel previously said he is considering running.
Current Republican Ohio Auditor Keith Faber is running for attorney general in 2026; current Republican Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague is running for secretary of state in 2026; and current Republican Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is running for auditor in 2026.
Bryan Hambley, a cancer doctor with University of Cincinnati Health, is the only announced Democratic candidate for Ohio Secretary of State. Former state representative Elliot Forhan has announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Ohio Attorney General. No Democrats have yet announced their candidacy in 2026 for Ohio auditor or treasurer.
Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky.
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