Ohio — Governor

D Democratic Amy Acton

Supports middle-class tax cuts and price-gouging caps

Acton proposes a Working Families Tax Cut featuring an Earned Income Credit and a child tax credit of up to $1,000 per child under six. She advocates expanding the homestead tax exemption and cracking down on price gouging, hidden consumer fees, and predatory debt collection practices.

• Establish a child tax credit of $1,000 per year for kids aged 0-6 and $500 for kids aged 7-18 for families earning up to $85,000.
• Create an Earned Income Credit supporting up to 775,000 working families.
• Enact a 'First Click Guarantee' to eliminate hidden fees on event tickets and pass House Bill 563.
• Expand the homestead tax exemption and modernize SNAP EBT protections against benefit theft.

“As Governor, I will fight to make life more affordable for everyday Ohioans so we can all have a little bit of breathing room.”

R Republican Vivek Ramaswamy

Favors property tax rollbacks and eliminating income tax

Ramaswamy promises to make Ohio the most affordable state in the nation by executing immediate property tax rollbacks. His fiscal plan includes phasing out the state income tax entirely, starting with the elimination of capital gains taxes.

• Slash property taxes immediately to protect homeowners, seniors, and families.
• Phase out the state income tax, beginning with capital gains taxes.
• Reduce government bloat so state spending remains within taxpayer means.

“Slash property taxes immediately to protect families, seniors, and homeowners from being priced out of their communities.”

D Democratic Amy Acton

Advocates ratepayer protections and data center guardrails

Acton proposes an all-of-the-above energy strategy focused on expanding low-cost and clean energy sources while shielding consumers from rate hikes. She demands strict cost guardrails ensuring data center operators and investors pay for their own utility and environmental impacts.

• Appoint Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) commissioners dedicated to consumer protection.
• Reinstate energy efficiency, demand response, and renewable portfolio standards repealed under HB6.
• Mandate that data centers and investors cover all added electricity, water, and infrastructure costs rather than passing them to ratepayers.
• Restore funding for the Office of the Consumers' Counsel to challenge excessive rate hikes.

“All additional costs for electricity, gas, water, environmental protection, and other services must be covered by the data centers and investors, and not Ohio taxpayers and communities.”

R Republican Vivek Ramaswamy

Supports fossil fuel expansion and deregulation

Ramaswamy advocates expanding natural gas production and adopting innovative energy technologies to increase state supply and reduce electricity bills. He pledges to streamline permitting processes and eliminate regulations to ensure energy projects are completed quickly.

• Expand natural gas extraction and usage across Ohio to lower energy costs.
• Streamline energy project permits and eliminate burdensome state regulations.
• Attract energy-intensive industries by providing reliable, low-cost power.

“Expand natural gas and deploy innovative energy technologies to strengthen Ohio’s energy supply and reduce electric bills for every family.”

D Democratic Amy Acton

Supports public school funding and voucher reform

Acton pledges to restore public school funding to constitutional levels while tightening control over Ohio's private school voucher system. She aims to redirect voucher savings directly into public school classrooms, teachers, and student services such as free lunches.

• Restore public school funding to a constitutional level.
• Reform the private school voucher program to control runaway costs.
• Provide free school lunches for students statewide.
• Reinvest voucher savings into public school instruction and teacher compensation.

“As Governor, I will restore public school funding to a constitutional level, get control of the opaque private school voucher system with runaway costs, and use those savings to invest in students, teachers and proven best practices to make Ohio a national leader in education once again.”

R Republican Vivek Ramaswamy

Backs parental choice and core academic standards

Ramaswamy proposes elevating academic benchmarks in core subjects while empowering parents with full curriculum transparency and school choice. His platform emphasizes merit-based teacher pay and expanding vocational apprenticeships.

• Focus state academic standards on 3rd-grade literacy, 8th-grade numeracy, and 12th-grade civics.
• Empower parents with school choice options and curriculum transparency.
• Increase compensation for top-performing teachers through merit rewards.
• Expand career-technical education programs and trade apprenticeships.

“Raise academic standards with a focus on 3rd-grade literacy, 8th-grade numeracy, and 12th-grade civics.”

D Democratic Amy Acton

Supports drug price reduction and Medicaid expansion

Acton proposes creating the Ohio Rx online platform to leverage Medicaid purchasing power to reduce drug costs for all residents. She also advocates forgiving working-class medical debt through municipal partnerships, protecting Medicaid from cuts, and expanding elder care workforce training.

• Launch Ohio Rx to leverage Medicaid single PBM purchasing power to lower prescription prices.
• Relieve medical debt by joining municipal debt-forgiveness initiatives across Ohio cities.
• Shorten Medicaid approval waiting periods and eliminate administrative red tape.
• Expand workforce training pathways for long-term care and assisted living staff.

“As a doctor, I will fight to make quality health care in Ohio more affordable and accessible.”

R Republican Vivek Ramaswamy

Focuses on institutional psychiatric care for public safety

Ramaswamy's platform addresses healthcare primarily by proposing to treat severe psychiatric illness within the context of law enforcement and public safety, enabling police officers to focus on violent crime.

• Address severe psychiatric illness to alleviate operational burdens on local law enforcement.

D Democratic Amy Acton

Supports funding police and commonsense gun reform

Acton promises to fully restore state funding for local police and public safety agencies to alleviate officer shortages. She combines law enforcement support with root-cause investments in education, job opportunities, addiction treatment, and commonsense gun safety laws.

• Rebuild state-local partnerships to fully fund police departments and first responders.
• Address underlying causes of crime through investments in career opportunities, poverty alleviation, and substance use treatment.
• Enact commonsense gun violence prevention reforms.

“As Governor, I will rebuild state and local partnerships, fully fund the police and public safety, and ensure that communities again have the public safety resources they need.”

R Republican Vivek Ramaswamy

Favors strict bail policies and empowering law enforcement

Ramaswamy pledges to restore law and order in Ohio cities by imposing stricter bail requirements and mandatory sentencing for repeat violent offenders. He aims to 'back the blue' by empowering police and sheriffs to arrest violent criminals quickly.

• Enforce stricter bail requirements and sentencing terms for repeat violent offenders.
• Empower local police departments and county sheriffs to execute swift arrests.
• Redirect severe psychiatric cases out of the criminal justice system to focus police resources on violent crime.

“Enforce stricter bail and sentencing for repeat violent offenders.”

D Democratic Amy Acton

Supports union rights and cracking down on wage theft

Acton strongly supports labor unions, opposes right-to-work legislation, and pledges a Day 1 executive order to fast-track wage theft cases. She also calls for a top-to-bottom review of JobsOhio to ensure state investments create union jobs for local workers.

• Issue an executive order on her first day to expedite investigations into wage theft.
• Veto any right-to-work legislation and defend collective bargaining rights.
• Conduct a top-to-bottom review of JobsOhio to enforce transparency and accountability.
• Require union labor and community benefit agreements on major economic projects.

“On the first day of the Acton administration, I will issue an executive order to require a rapid turnaround on wage theft cases, so Ohioans get the money they have earned in a timely manner.”

R Republican Vivek Ramaswamy

Promotes deregulation, tax cuts, and vocational training

Ramaswamy aims to stimulate economic growth by removing regulatory barriers, lowering corporate and income taxes, and providing low-cost energy to attract future industries. He emphasizes career-technical training, securing endorsements from several building trades unions.

• Slash regulatory red tape that stalls business expansion.
• Leverage low energy costs and tax rollbacks to attract manufacturing and technology firms.
• Expand career-technical training programs and trade apprenticeships.
• Earned endorsements from the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, NFIB Ohio PAC, ACT Ohio, and the Carpenters Union.

D Democratic Amy Acton

Advocates campaign finance reform and government transparency

Acton calls for reforming Ohio's campaign finance system to eliminate dark money and pay-to-play politics in the Statehouse. She promises strict transparency in state bidding, contracting, and appointment processes.

• Mandate campaign finance reform and full disclosure of political contributions.
• Open state bidding, contracting, and appointment processes to public oversight.
• Enforce transparency across state agencies and economic development programs.

“As Governor, I will shine light on the process, insisting on transparency, mandating more disclosure, reforming our campaign finance system, and opening bidding, contracting, and appointment processes to ensure decisions are made on behalf of the public, and not private interests or big donors.”

R Republican Vivek Ramaswamy

Opposes ESG policies and corporate political activism

Ramaswamy centers his governance platform on opposing ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) principles in private boardrooms and public pension funds. He argues that businesses and financial institutions should focus exclusively on product excellence and profits rather than political agendas.

• Prohibit state pension funds and banks from adopting ESG criteria or political investment mandates.
• Eliminate corporate 'wokeness' and restore shareholder profit as the primary goal of business.
• Reduce state administrative bloat to limit regulatory intervention in economic affairs.

“I’m fed up with corporate America’s game of pretending to care about justice in order to make money. It is quietly wreaking havoc on American democracy.”

D Democratic Amy Acton

Supports constitutional reproductive freedom and abortion access

Acton pledges to protect reproductive freedom across Ohio, guaranteeing access to safe, legal abortion, contraception, fertility treatments, and miscarriage care without state interference.

• Protect legal abortion care and access across the state.
• Safeguard rights to contraception, IVF/fertility care, and miscarriage management.

“Every Ohioan deserves the right to make their own reproductive health care decisions, free from government interference, plain and simple.”