FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 25, 2026
CONTACT: [email protected]
THE PLAIN DEALER/CLEVELAND.COM EDITORIAL BOARD COMES OFF SIDELINES, ENDORSES DR. AMY ACTON
This is a reversal of The Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com’s previous decision to not issue an endorsement in the governor’s race
CLEVELAND, OH– Today, The Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com Editorial Board issued an endorsement of Dr. Amy Acton’s campaign for governor, writing that she has “earned consideration on her own record, her preparation and her commitment to the people she seeks to serve” and has “kept showing up” across Ohio.
They write that Vivek Ramaswamy “has offered Ohioans far less reason to trust him,” including moving “his business to Texas,” his refusal to answer policy questions, and his “decision to release this vile advertisement.”
READ: We cannot remain silent: Amy Acton for governor
- There are moments when a community must decide what it stands for, when its institutions have a duty to speak and when silence itself becomes a statement.
- Ohio has reached such a moment.
- Vivek Ramaswamy, seeking the highest office in this state, has produced a campaign advertisement that weaponizes the sexual abuse his opponent, Amy Acton, suffered as a child. People across the political spectrum have rightly condemned it.
- But condemnation has to mean something. Our politics have been debased for a decade, but this we will not accept. A candidate who uses childhood sexual abuse as a weapon against the person who endured it has crossed a line that Ohioans should defend, whatever their party.
- We are better than this. We have a responsibility to show it.
- Today, we endorse Democrat Amy Acton for governor.
- This reverses a policy we announced just months ago. Readers told us they did not need our guidance in races for governor, U.S. Senate and president. They wanted us to devote our attention to down-ballot races, especially those for judge, where reliable information can be harder to find. We listened, and we have done that work.
- Now, a wave of readers is asking us to recognize another obligation. They want their chief news source to take a stand on what this community and its institutions will accept from those who seek to lead us.
- They are right. We made our endorsement policy to serve our readers. We cannot let it become a reason to remain silent when we believe Ohio faces a choice this consequential.
- And our endorsement of Acton rests on more than Ramaswamy’s failure to meet a basic standard of decency. She has earned consideration on her own record, her preparation and her commitment to the people she seeks to serve.
- For the better part of two years, Acton has traveled Ohio, meeting with people in small groups. Rural Ohio. Urban Ohio. Communities in between. Places where Democrats can expect a welcome and places where they must work hard to earn a hearing.
- She has kept showing up. More important, she has listened. In thousands of conversations, Ohioans have told her about their needs and their hopes. A governor’s first obligation is to the people, and understanding their lives is essential preparation for the job.
- Acton also brings experience carrying public responsibility through a crisis, as Ohio’s health director under Gov. Mike DeWine during the pandemic. Her work in nonprofits adds to a career devoted to service. Together with her sustained effort to hear from Ohioans, that experience makes a compelling case that she is ready to lead.
- Ramaswamy has offered Ohioans far less reason to trust him. He has focused much of his attention on wealthy donors while steadfastly refusing to explain what he would do about many of the issues he would face as governor. When our readers identified the questions they wanted answered, we devoted a 15-part series to seeking those answers. Acton participated… Ramaswamy refused.
- Those were Ohioans asking about Ohio’s future. Someone seeking the authority to govern them owed them answers.
- He also moved his business out of Ohio, to Texas. For a candidate asking voters to entrust him with this state’s future, that was an extraordinary demonstration of his own lack of faith in it.
- …Ramaswamy’s decision to release this vile advertisement reveals a failure of judgment that Ohio cannot afford in its governor… Acton is prepared.
- This election asks Ohioans to look beyond party loyalty and consider the standards we expect our leaders to uphold. How we answer will say something enduring about us: what we value, what we will tolerate and what we believe public service should be.
- Stand with decency on Nov. 3. Reject the debasement Ramaswamy has brought to this campaign. Choose the candidate who has poured her heart into serving Ohioans.
- Elect Amy Acton governor.
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