Ohio governor’s race: See which candidates are running for 2026
Here are the candidates that have entered the 2026 race for governor in Ohio.
Dr. Amy Acton, Ohio Democrats’ candidate for governor, says she’s been censored online twice for posting about her opponent, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy.
This week, Acton posted a clip of Ramaswamy describing the benefits of year-round school and longer school days. Ramaswamy’s campaign described the remarks, which have since been removed from the social media site Threads, as a “casual back-and-forth on TikTok” that did not amount to a “policy rollout.”
But X, previously called Twitter, flagged Acton’s post as “hateful conduct,” a designation reserved for promoting violence, threats or harassment against people based on race, ethnicity, gender or other identities. Because of the designation, her post’s reach was limited for several hours, but not removed.
Acton’s post read: “.@VivekGRamaswamy’s plan for year-round school” and included the clip.
The “hateful conduct” designation has since been removed, but not before Acton reacted to it. “This is the second time in just a few months that our account has been censored for simply mentioning my opponent,” she wrote on X.
In July, X suspended Acton’s account without explanation after she called on Ramaswamy to support releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files detailing the late sex offender’s political connections. As a presidential candidate in 2024, Ramaswamy had promised to release the full Epstein client list.
At the time, Ramaswamy called on X and its owner, Elon Musk, to unsuspend Acton’s account. “Ohio deserves to hear from all candidates running for office, and I’m confident that X’s owner @elonmusk would agree with me on that.” Acton’s account was restored within a day.
Musk and Ramaswamy worked together to set up the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency. President Donald Trump selected both men to help streamline the federal government and cut costs.
Ramaswamy campaign spokeswoman Connie Luck said of the most recent incident: “It would be more appropriate to flag her post as politically desperate.”
Ohio Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou also weighed in online: “When your campaign is full of lies and hateful rhetoric, expect to be challenged.”
Acton campaign manager Philip Stein said the Democratic candidate’s posts have not been removed or blocked on other social media sites, such as Threads or Bluesky.
“Vivek Ramaswamy’s agenda is so out of touch that even Dr. Acton simply re-posting his video presenting his plans caused X to believe it was AI and censor her account for hateful conduct,” Stein said.
Without prominent primary challengers, both Ramaswamy and Acton are expected to face off in 2026 to replace term-limited GOP Gov. Mike DeWine.
Dispatch reporter Cole Behrens contributed to this article.
State government reporter Jessie Balmert can be reached at jbalmert@gannett.com or @jbalmert on X.
