Dr. Amy Acton brings a story and a record that's hard to match in this race. She grew up in Youngstown facing real hardship, including periods of poverty and instability, and worked her way through college and medical school to become a doctor focused on children's and public health. She trained in pediatrics and preventive medicine, created the first residency rotation in child advocacy in the country, and built a career around maternal and child health and public health at Ohio State University.

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Her most visible public service came as Director of the Ohio Department of Public Health under Governor DeWine, where she worked across party lines to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable for the opioid epidemic and helped shape a major settlement funding addiction recovery. During the pandemic, her steady leadership helped Ohio's economy and schools reopen earlier than many other states, work that earned her a Profile in Courage Award from the JFK Library Foundation and recognition as USA Today's Ohio Woman of the Year.

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Her campaign is built around bringing power back to the people of Ohio, with a platform centered on lowering costs for families, expanding affordable healthcare, improving education, strengthening worker protections, growing jobs, and cleaning up corruption in state government. That platform speaks directly to what Ashtabula County is dealing with: wages that haven't kept up with housing and healthcare costs, and a state government voters increasingly see as unresponsive. 

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For Ashtabula County Democrats, the case for Acton is straightforward: a candidate whose own life reflects the economic struggles working families here face, with a public health record that shows she can actually deliver results under pressure, running against a state political class that's had years to address affordability and hasn't. Vote Amy Acton for Ohio Governor 2026!