Governor of Ohio

Amy Acton

The numbers behind this figure, as a table

Coverage, by section

Section	State
profile	researched
ballot	researched
positions	researched
claims	researched
record	researched
money	researched
interests	researched
polling	researched
elections	researched
endorsements	researched
sources	researched

Don Kissick

The numbers behind this figure, as a table

Coverage, by section

Section	State
profile	researched
ballot	researched
positions	researched
claims	none found
record	not researched
money	not researched
interests	not researched
polling	researched
elections	researched
endorsements	not researched
sources	researched

Vivek Ramaswamy

The numbers behind this figure, as a table

Coverage, by section

Section	State
profile	researched
ballot	researched
positions	researched
claims	researched
record	researched
money	researched
interests	researched
polling	researched
elections	researched
endorsements	researched
sources	researched

Amy Acton

• would dismantle Medicare and Medicaid kicking 500,000 Ohioans off their insurance … and cutting rural hospital funding

  A campaign advertisement, "Mistakes" · October 6, 2026

• As Health Director, Amy worked with republicans to hold big drug companies accountable for the opioid crisis, bringing millions back to Ohio to lower healthcare costs

  A campaign advertisement, "Leader" · October 5, 2026

• He made hundreds of millions of dollars scamming people like me.

  A campaign television advertisement, "Norm" · September 21, 2026

  PolitiFact rated this Mostly False, October 12, 2026 · the check

• …Vivek Ramaswamy is spending millions on attack ads, even using AI to lie about my family.

  A campaign television advertisement, "Garbage" · September 10, 2026

• As head of a dubious pharmaceutical company, Ramaswamy pushed an Alzheimers drug he knew didn't work

  A campaign television advertisement, "Important" · September 7, 2026

  WKRC published no rating scale, September 8, 2026 · the check

  WVXU published no rating scale, September 28, 2026 · the check

Don Kissick

None found in the records checked

Vivek Ramaswamy

• She is a liar. She lies about her past. She says she grew up living in a tent. None of that is true. She’s lied her entire life.

  A one-minute online video featuring Donna Arthur, first posted on Oct. 19, 2026 by the political blogger known as The Rooster with no paid-for line; the Ramaswamy campaign confirmed on Oct. 20 that it is the campaign's ad · October 19, 2026

  FactCheck.org published no rating scale, October 21, 2026 · the check

• …but Amy Acton refuses.

  A campaign television advertisement, "Real Leaders Listen" · September 17, 2026

• Two months later, she died. Amy Acton is to blame for this.

  A campaign television advertisement, "Linda Interview", in which Linda Caudill speaks · August 24, 2026

  WKRC published no rating scale, September 8, 2026 · the check

  WVXU published no rating scale, September 28, 2026 · the check

• Acton hiked taxes and made everything cost more

  A campaign television advertisement set in an imagined future · August 2026

  cleveland.com published no rating scale, September 11, 2026 · the check

• Vivek Ramaswamy backs law enforcement and is endorsed by the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police and 67 county sheriffs.

  A campaign television advertisement, "Law Enforcement," from Ramaswamy for OH Governor / McColley for OH Lt. Governor, as catalogued by AdImpact (AdImpact lists it as started airing 07/28/26) · July 28, 2026

• OHIO HAD THE MOST ELDERLY DEATHS IN THE MIDWEST

  On-screen text in a campaign television advertisement, "Ohio's COVID Czar" · June 12, 2026

• Amy Acton called off Ohio's election at the last minute

  A campaign advertisement · April 2026

  PolitiFact rated this Mostly False, May 13, 2026 · the check

  WVXU published no rating scale, September 28, 2026 · the check

Amy Acton

1. 2025 · statement

   Said of her June 2020 resignation: "this one order in particular was the final straw for me. It was to open the fairs." Her campaign disputed reports that she had heated disagreements with Gov. Mike DeWine.

   Sources: washingtonexaminer.com · foxnews.com

2. 2022 · action

   Served as president and chief executive of RAPID 5, a Franklin County parks and trails nonprofit, helping establish its nonprofit status, building its board and raising about $3 million before leaving in May 2023 during a change in the organization's funding and strategy.

   Sources: ideastream.org · morpc.org · columbusunderground.com

3. August 4, 2020 · action

   Left her post as Gov. Mike DeWine's chief health adviser, which she had held since resigning as health director on June 11, 2020.

   Sources: web.archive.org · en.wikipedia.org

4. June 11, 2020 · action

   Resigned as director of the Ohio Department of Health after Republican state legislators moved to limit the health director's emergency powers and protesters gathered outside her home.

   Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ballotpedia.org

5. May 2020 · order

   Issued business-closure and stay-at-home orders as health director in March 2020. In May 2020, in Rock House Fitness, Inc. v. Acton, a Lake County Court of Common Pleas judge granted a preliminary injunction, finding she lacked statutory authority to close the gyms that sued.

   Judge Eugene Lucci, Lake County Court of Common Pleas: acted in an impermissibly arbitrary, unreasonable, and oppressive manner · the source

   Sources: richlandsource.com · news5cleveland.com

6. March 16, 2020 · order

   Signed the order closing Ohio's polling places for the March 17, 2020 primary, the night before, after a judge declined to postpone the election. Gov. Mike DeWine announced the decision; the legislature then set April 28, 2020 as the deadline for a primary held by mail.

   Gov. Mike DeWine, as quoted by PolitiFact: they were my decisions, so no one should blame someone else if they don't like it, the buck stops with me · the source

   Then-state Sen. Matt Huffman (R), on the Senate floor, March 25, 2020, as quoted by the Statehouse News Bureau: The election of March 17 was not canceled · the source

   Sources: npr.brightspotcdn.com · npr.org · politifact.com · statenews.org

7. March 12, 2020 · statement

   Estimated at a state briefing that at least 1% of Ohioans, more than 100,000 people, were carrying the coronavirus. The next day she said: "I am not saying there are absolutely for certain 100,000 people, I'm saying I'm guesstimating."

   Sources: pjmedia.com · time.com · washingtonexaminer.com

8. March 2020 · order

   Was state health director when Ohio closed its K-12 schools statewide from March 16, 2020, which Gov. Mike DeWine announced on March 12 as the first statewide closure in the nation, and when visitors were barred from Ohio nursing homes from March 11, 2020.

   Sources: en.wikipedia.org · signalohio.org · statenews.org

9. March 2020 · statement

   Presented Ohio State University models projecting that Ohio could identify up to 10,000 new COVID-19 cases a day at its peak. In April 2020 she said the projected peak had fallen to 1,600 a day, which she attributed to distancing, and that with no mitigation it could have reached 62,000.

   Sources: abc6onyourside.com · news5cleveland.com

10. March 2020 · action

    Directed Ohio's early COVID-19 response as health director, appearing at daily televised briefings with Gov. Mike DeWine.

    John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, naming her one of seven recipients of a 2021 COVID Courage Profile in Courage Award: her leadership put Ohio ahead of most other states in responding to the virus · the source

    Ohio Republican Party: Dishonest, Reckless, and Unfit: Amy Acton's COVID Record Follows Her Into the Governor's Race · the source

    Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fox19.com · jfklibrary.org · ohiogop.org

11. February 2019 · appointment

    Appointed director of the Ohio Department of Health by Gov. Mike DeWine, the first woman to hold the post.

    Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ballotpedia.org

12. 2019 · action

    Worked across party lines on opioid litigation that contributed to a settlement funding Ohio addiction-recovery programs, according to her campaign biography. The archive found this corroborated only in general terms, with no figure tied to her personally.

    Source: actonforgovernor.com

Don Kissick

Not yet researched

Vivek Ramaswamy

1. April 2026 · statement

   In a video of a campaign speech he posted on X, said he has "a positive vision for our state versus a governor who has none at all other than to complain about what someone else did to her." WVXU read the remark as aimed at Amy Acton.

   Phil Stein, Acton campaign manager, as quoted by WVXU: It is shameful that Ramaswamy's allies are attacking someone for seeking treatment after being sexually abused as a child · the source

   Source: wvxu.org

2. April 2020 · statement

   Said on a Rockefeller Capital Management podcast: "could we tolerate a national system in which certain people on the basis of a biomarker are segregated? ... I personally think that it is better than the status quo if we can send 10 or 20 percent of the people back on the basis of having immunity." In 2026 he told the Associated Press the idea involved "getting the economy going again."

   Contra (Pedro L. Gonzalez), 2023-11-29: pushed a dystopian national coronavirus system in 2020 · the source

   Sources: readcontra.com · yahoo.com · wosu.org

3. 2020 · action

   Advised then-Lt. Gov. Jon Husted informally during the COVID-19 pandemic. He later wrote that he "worked with the lieutenant governor as an adviser on COVID-19" during 2020.

   Then-Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, as quoted by NBC News (2023): We were trying to get [Covid] testing so that we could help get things moving faster, and he was very helpful in providing some connections there · the source

   Sources: nbcnews.com · wosu.org

Amy Acton

The numbers behind this figure, as a table

Where the money went, as filed

From	To	Dollars	Share of total	Note
Raised	Spent	4,790,837.44	20.3%
Other funds (derived)	Spent	723,835.36	3.1%
Raised	Cash on hand	15,686,043.50	66.5%
Other funds (derived)	Cash on hand	2,369,964.13	10.1%

Totals as filed

OhioSOS, as of September 3, 2026: raised $20,476,881, spent $5,514,673, cash on hand $18,056,008.

The Ohio Capital Journal reported Oct. 28 that Acton's pre-general report shows $3.9 million raised in its two-week window and $26.2 million spent since summer, because Ohio's summer reports list money raised but not money spent. Ohio campaigns were due to file pre-general reports on October 22, covering activity through October 14, 2026. They are not in these figures, which come from the latest report in our records, dated September 3, 2026.

Sources: Final Ohio campaign finance report shows Acton raising more, spending less than Ramaswamy · data.ohiosos.gov · www6.ohiosos.gov · ohiosos.gov

OhioSOS, as of July 31, 2026: raised $16,500,000, cash on hand $10,000,000.

Sources: actonforgovernor.com · nbc4i.com · signalohio.org · ohiosos.gov

Top donors, filed amounts first

• Ohio Democratic Party · $1,138,000 · party committee · In state

  state party committee

  Sources: www6.ohiosos.gov · transparencyusa.org · nbc4i.com

Outside spending

Super PAC entries in our donor-interests research, filed amounts first:

• Brian Tierney (FirstEnergy), to the Democratic Governors Association · $10,300 as filed

  $10,300 to the DGA on 2025-03-28, filed with the employer FirstEnergy and the occupation chief executive officer, Columbus address, per the DGA's IRS Form 8872 as republished by ProPublica. The Energy and Policy Institute reported $10,000. The DGA's Ohio group, Ohioans for Lower Costs, backs Acton; see the DGA entry.

  Sources: projects.propublica.org · projects.propublica.org · energyandpolicy.org · firstenergycorp.com

• Democratic Governors Association (Ohioans for Lower Costs; DGA Action) · $9,400,000 reported, not filed

  Reported, not filed: Signal Ohio reported on August 27, 2026 that the DGA had $9.4 million in pro-Acton ads set to begin after Labor Day, and WVXU reported June 15, 2026 that the DGA's committee had bought TV time from September 8 through Election Day. Filed so far: Ohioans for Lower Costs is registered with the Ohio Secretary of State as PAC OH1993 (Columbus mailing address; treasurer filed as Andrew Whalen). Its post-primary report (filed June 10, 2026) shows no activity, and its July 2026 semiannual report shows one contribution, $1,000,000 from the IBEW PAC Educational Fund on 06/16/2026, no expenditures and $1,000,000 on hand at June 30. The IBEW fund's own IRS Form 8872 for April to June 2026 shows it paid the DGA $1,000,000 on 05/20/2026, received $1,000,000 from the DGA on 06/10/2026 and paid Ohioans for Lower Costs $1,000,000 the same day (paid June 10 per the IBEW fund's 8872; received June 16 per Ohioans for Lower Costs' Ohio report); the DGA's own Form 8872 for the quarter shows neither $1,000,000 transaction. Separately, DGA Action, the DGA's super PAC, gave the Ohio Democratic Party $250,000 on 06/18/2026. No DGA payment to any Ohio committee appears on the DGA's IRS filings through June 30, 2026; its July to September report is not yet due. The amount field carries the reported $9.4 million reservation.

  Sources: signalohio.org · wvxu.org · democraticgovernors.org · democraticgovernors.org · projects.propublica.org · energyandpolicy.org · www6.ohiosos.gov · transparencyusa.org · democraticgovernors.org · occ.ohio.gov · projects.propublica.org · www6.ohiosos.gov · www6.ohiosos.gov · www6.ohiosos.gov · www6.ohiosos.gov · democraticgovernors.org · fec.gov · fec.gov

In-state share

From inside Ohio: $11,800,000 (72%), as of July 31, 2026. Share of the dollars raised in calendar 2026, as reported from the Ohio Secretary of State filing of August 6, 2026. Of about 274,624 individual donors, 156,601 gave from Ohio addresses. The largest out-of-state sources were California at $796,260, New York at $534,136 and Washington, D.C. at $306,532.

Source: Ohio governor's race: Where donations are coming from

Don Kissick

The numbers behind this figure, as a table

Where the money went, as filed

Status
None found in the records checked

Totals as filed

Not yet researched

Top donors, filed amounts first

Not yet researched

Outside spending

Not yet researched

In-state share

Not yet researched

Vivek Ramaswamy

The numbers behind this figure, as a table

Where the money went, as filed

From	To	Dollars	Share of total	Note
Raised	Spent	5,745,517.24	9.6%
Other funds (derived)	Spent	15,438,017.59	25.9%
Raised	Cash on hand	10,407,677.28	17.5%
Other funds (derived)	Cash on hand	27,965,089.67	47.0%

Totals as filed

OhioSOS, as of September 3, 2026: raised $16,153,195, spent $21,183,535, cash on hand $38,372,767.

The Ohio Capital Journal reported Oct. 28 that Ramaswamy's pre-general report shows $1.5 million raised in its two-week window, $51.1 million spent since summer and another $5 million loan from him, bringing the campaign's debt to $41.3 million. Ohio's summer reports list money raised but not money spent. Ohio campaigns were due to file pre-general reports on October 22, covering activity through October 14, 2026. They are not in these figures, which come from the latest report in our records, dated September 3, 2026.

Sources: Final Ohio campaign finance report shows Acton raising more, spending less than Ramaswamy · data.ohiosos.gov · www6.ohiosos.gov · ohiosos.gov

OhioSOS, as of July 31, 2026: raised $14,400,000, spent $21,180,000.

Sources: nbc4i.com · nbc4i.com · wkbn.com

Top donors, filed amounts first

• Chase Herro, Zachary Folkman and Zachary Witkoff · $49,845 · campaign committee · Out of state

  co-founders, World Liberty Financial

  Sources: www6.ohiosos.gov · exposedbycmd.org · exposedbycmd.org

• George Fisher · $33,231 · campaign committee · In state

  owner, Cavalier Distributing, Cincinnati

  Sources: www6.ohiosos.gov · nbc4i.com · wkbn.com

• Mackenzie Price · $16,616 · campaign committee · Out of state

  co-founder of a private school network, Austin, Texas

  Sources: www6.ohiosos.gov · nbc4i.com · wkbn.com

• Vivek Ramaswamy · $25,000,000 loan from the candidate · the candidate · In state

  the candidate; a loan to his own committee reported in April 2026. The campaign's debt was $41.3 million on the pre-general report, the Ohio Capital Journal reported Oct. 28, including another $5 million loan from him

  Sources: ohiocapitaljournal.com · tiffinohio.net

Outside spending

• as of July 22, 2026

  Jeff Yass · $20,000,000 · gave to V-PAC (Victors Not Victims)

  Ross Stevens · $6,000,000 · gave to V-PAC (Victors Not Victims)

  Elon Musk · $5,000,000 · gave to V-PAC (Victors Not Victims)

  Ratmir Timashev · $5,000,000 · gave to V-PAC (Victors Not Victims)

  Sources: ohiocapitaljournal.com · signalcleveland.org · x.com · fec.gov

Super PAC entries in our donor-interests research, filed amounts first:

• Utilities and power companies with Ohio operations, to the Republican Governors Association · $1,202,000 as filed

  Contributions to the Republican Governors Association from January 2025 through June 30, 2026, per its IRS Form 8872 filings as republished by ProPublica: American Electric Power $375,000 ($250,000 on 2025-08-11; $125,000 on 2026-03-06); Vistra Operations $551,500 ($100,000, $200,000, three of $500 and $250,000 on 2026-06-29); Duke Energy $100,000 (2026-03-04); NiSource Corporate Services $95,000 (2025-12-31); AES Corporation $50,000 and AES Clean Energy $5,500; CenterPoint Energy $25,000 (2025-12-22). An AES Restaurant Group row ($50,000) is a different company and is excluded. The Energy and Policy Institute counted $947,000 as of May 2026, before Vistra's June 29 contribution.

  Sources: projects.propublica.org · projects.propublica.org · energyandpolicy.org · rga.org

• William Ackman · $1,000,000 as filed

  One contribution to V-PAC on 2026-06-08 (July 2026 quarterly), filed with employer Pershing Square Capital Management, investment manager, New York. FEC filings also show $250,000 from him to American Exceptionalism PAC on 2023-08-22, the super PAC that backed Ramaswamy's presidential run.

  Sources: docquery.fec.gov · api.open.fec.gov · docquery.fec.gov · yahoo.com

• Sports Betting Alliance · $650,000 as filed

  Two contributions to V-PAC: $500,000 on 2025-06-26 (mid-year 2025 report) and $150,000 on 2026-01-09 (April 2026 quarterly), Arlington, Virginia.

  Sources: docquery.fec.gov · docquery.fec.gov · api.open.fec.gov · sportsbettingalliance.org · signalohio.org

• ABC Supply Co Inc · $500,000 as filed

  One corporate contribution to V-PAC on 2025-03-20 (mid-year 2025 report), Beloit, Wisconsin.

  Sources: docquery.fec.gov · api.open.fec.gov

• Axium Packaging LLC (attributed to Paul Judge, president) · $500,000 as filed

  Two V-PAC receipts filed as partnership contributions attributed to Paul Judge, president, New Albany, Ohio: $25 on 2025-10-14 and $499,975 on 2025-11-04 (year-end 2025 report; aggregate $500,000). Paul Judge, filed as president of Axium, also gave $16,615.50 to the candidate committee (through 2025-08-27).

  Sources: docquery.fec.gov · api.open.fec.gov · transparencyusa.org

• David F. Herche (HBH Holdings / Enerfab) · $250,000 as filed

  One contribution to V-PAC on 2025-05-16 (mid-year 2025 report), filed with employer HBH Holdings, executive, Cincinnati. The Ohio Republican Party's state candidate fund, which pays in-kind staff support to the campaign, reports $30,000 from him (filed as Enerfab Inc, chairman) on 2025-05-01.

  Sources: docquery.fec.gov · api.open.fec.gov · www6.ohiosos.gov · www6.ohiosos.gov · www6.ohiosos.gov

• Donald Kenney Jr. · $250,000 as filed

  Three contributions to V-PAC ($100,000 and $50,000 on 2025-06-24, $100,000 on 2025-09-29), filed as self-employed, real estate, Westerville, Ohio. Three other contributors filed at the same business address gave $50,000 each on 2025-06-24.

  Sources: docquery.fec.gov · docquery.fec.gov · api.open.fec.gov

• Fund for Economic Independence · $250,000 as filed

  One contribution to V-PAC on 2026-03-25 (April 2026 quarterly), Alexandria, Virginia.

  Sources: docquery.fec.gov · api.open.fec.gov · laurabelin.substack.com

• The Scotts Company (Scotts Miracle-Gro) · $250,000 as filed

  One contribution to V-PAC on 2026-01-30 (April 2026 quarterly), filed as an entity taxed as a corporation, Marysville, Ohio.

  Sources: docquery.fec.gov · api.open.fec.gov · en.wikipedia.org

• Janet Lanterman · $225,000 as filed

  One contribution to V-PAC on 2025-04-30 (mid-year 2025 report), filed as retired, Perrysburg, Ohio.

  Sources: docquery.fec.gov · api.open.fec.gov

20 more: All 68 donors for Vivek Ramaswamy, with their interests

In-state share

From inside Ohio: $7,750,000 (54%), as of July 31, 2026. Share of the dollars raised in calendar 2026, not counting the candidate's own contributions or Elon Musk's, as reported from the Ohio Secretary of State filing of August 6, 2026. Of about 277,867 individual donors, 45,857 gave from Ohio addresses. The largest out-of-state sources were Florida at about $1 million, Texas at $742,299 and California at $674,204.

Source: Ohio governor's race: Where donations are coming from