COLUMBUS, Ohio — With all the attention focused on speculation swirling around who Gov. Mike DeWine will appoint to fill Vice President-Elect JD Vance’s vacated Senate seat, more candidates are coming forward with their sights set on DeWine’s seat.

What You Need To Know

  • Dr. Amy Acton, former Ohio Department of Health director during the inital COVID outbreak, announced her candidacy for governor in 2026

  • Acton is running as a member of the Democratic Party

  • Experts say other potential Democratic candidates for statewide offices include Former Congressman Tim Ryan and Former Senator Sherrod Brown

Among them, the former director of the Ohio Department of Health, Dr. Amy Acton, announced her 2026 gubernatorial run for the Democratic Party.

Acton guided the state’s response at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as DeWine’s final cabinet pick in 2019.

“I’m responsible for her, I’m very happy with what she has done,” DeWine said during a 2020 interview.

But as for running the state, she’s not necessarily his top pick.

“Well, I suspect there will be a lot of people running for governor,” DeWine said Wednesday, when asked about Acton throwing her hat into the ring.

Acton lacks experience holding an elected office, something she will have working against her campaign, Justin Buchler, associate professor of political science at Case Western Reserve University said.

He said another strike against her is those ties to COVID.

“Public opinion, especially in a Republican-leaning state like Ohio, is that restrictions were overly broad,” he said.

Hundreds of people protested her policies in 2020. She resigned as director with the state health department in June 2020.

At this time, she’s the first Democrat to publicly announce she’s seeking the office.

“We really don’t have anyone on the Democratic bench, per se, that has the name recognition, the money, etc., because the state has leaned so heavily Republican with so many of these offices,” Baldwin Wallace University Political Science Professor Tom Sutton said.

He said there’s one Democrat who actually sits on a bench, who is a possibility to run for another statewide position, but it’s an unlikely possibility.

“Jennifer Brunner, who’s on the Ohio Supreme Court,” he said.

Dave Cohen, University of Akron political science professor, said it is more likely Former Congressman Tim Ryan or another ex-D.C. Democrat, Former Senator Sherrod Brown, may enter the mix.

But with the candidates’ deadline to file 90 days before the primary election next spring, there’s time to finalize plans and gauge support.

Buchler said an early announcement showing a candidate’s intent to run, is essentially an entry into the “invisible primary,” an informal process to test a campaign’s viability before election season ramps up.

“Determine whether or not funding will be available, whether or not there will be backers,” he said.

Cohen said we have a good chance of seeing some blue come through during the November 2026 general election results.

“Midterm elections are always difficult for the president’s party, and so It’ll probably be a banner year for Democrats,” he said. “Even in Ohio.”