CLEVELAND — She was arguably the best-known non-elected official in Ohio five years ago as the COVID-19 pandemic took over our lives. Now, Dr. Amy Acton is looking to use that name recognition to mount her first run for elected office. Acton announced she would seek the Democratic nomination for the state's top job, governor.
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"I am a doctor, advocate, and problem-solver," Acton said on her campaign website. "I'm running for Governor because I refuse to look away from Ohioans who are struggling and it’s time to give power back to the people and our communities."
Acton quickly became the face of the state's efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. By joining Governor DeWine in his daily briefings, she developed a following. There were Facebook fan pages, Rosie the Riveter-type memes, and other shows of support for a woman who was literally Governor DeWine's last cabinet pick a year earlier.
"Never in my life did I expect a phone call or a job like this," she told News 5 in 2020.
A product of a broken home, she faced financial struggles growing up, abuse and neglect, moving from place to place before the age of 12, including a time she spent homeless, living out of a tent. Experiences she told me a month into the pandemic that didn't break her but rather shaped her into the person she would become.
"It's made me have a certain resiliency and a focus in crisis and an ability to tolerate," she said.
That ability to tolerate would soon be tested as she soon was on the receiving end of the frustrations expressed by a growing number of Ohioans over the state's handling of the pandemic, the shutdowns and restrictions. There were protests outside of the statehouse, outside of her home. By June, she had had enough and left the post to go to work for the Columbus Foundation.
She stepped down a year later to consider a run for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, which she ultimately decided not to pursue.
News 5 Political Analyst Tom Sutton says given the lack of a Democratic bench in Ohio, she has a shot at the nomination.
"This time around there's really no other identified Democrat whose announced or who people are talking about," Sutton said. "If we looked at potential possibilities there might be people like Tim Ryan running again but for governor, Sherrod Brown possibly deciding to run for governor, Allyson Russo the minority leader in the house. Other than that though there really aren't any other Democrats that people think about in terms of running."
"Certainly, it'll be a tough race to run against whoever wins the Republican nomination, but it is an opportunity, and it would really depend on to what degree Ohioans think about how things were when she was the Health Director during the COVID crisis under DeWine in 2020," said Sutton.
When we talked with Ohioans, we asked a sample if the name Amy Acton rang a bell. For some, it did not, but for John Blaze of Cleveland, it most certainly did.
"Man I love that lady," Blaze said. "She helped us when we had the pandemic going on. She was like the greatest thing we had in Ohio."
Despite his enthusiasm, given the political makeup in the state, Sutton says it's the Republican's race to lose regardless of who the nominee is. A slot that is in flux as we wait on Governor DeWine's choice to fill Vice President-elect JD Vance's seat in the U.S. Senate.
"Depending on what happens with Jon Husted, if he's selected and says yes to serve in the U.S. Senate seat, that leaves Dave Yost a fairly open field in terms of his declaration. Robert Sprague, possibly Congressman Warren Davidson or others who are thinking about running for the gubernatorial nomination for the Republicans. Whoever wins that nomination will be the odds on favorite I think against whoever the Democrat is in '26 including Dr. Acton," said Sutton.
