Ohio Governor's Race Highlights Right-Wing Attacks on Science-Based COVID-19 Response
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Democrat Amy Acton's campaign, rooted in her principled leadership during the COVID-19 crisis, faces relentless criticism from Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, whose opportunism and hypocrisy mark the GOP's pandemic narrative.
In the upcoming Ohio gubernatorial election, Democrat Dr. Amy Acton, a champion of public health and science, stands unopposed in her party's primary and faces Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, a wealthy biotech entrepreneur whose campaign is fueled by personal fortune and right-wing media attention. The race is defined by the candidates' contrasting roles during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Acton's evidence-based leadership under attack from conservative forces.
As Ohio's public health director in early 2020, Dr. Acton courageously implemented life-saving measures such as school closures, business shutdowns, and the suspension of the 2020 primary election to protect Ohioans from a deadly virus. Despite the clear necessity of these actions, Republicans have cynically targeted Acton, scapegoating her for the hardships caused by the pandemic and ignoring the science behind her decisions. Ramaswamy has gone so far as to accuse Acton of promoting a so-called "COVID ideology," a dog-whistle for anti-science rhetoric, while Acton's campaign rightly insists her decisions put public health above political gamesmanship.
Ramaswamy, who leads the Republican primary thanks to his immense wealth and national platform, has hypocritically attacked Acton's pandemic response—even though his own company, Roivant Sciences, profited from the crisis and he personally supported vaccines and mask-wearing. Yet, he opportunistically opposed government mandates, pandering to the anti-mask, anti-vaccine fringe. This race exposes the ongoing right-wing assault on science and the politicization of a public health emergency, with both candidates' pandemic-era actions shaping voter perceptions and campaign strategies.