Democrat Amy Acton defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio's governor's race on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Acton, a physician who served as Ohio's public health director during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, led Ramaswamy by about 4 percentage points, the New Republic reported. She will become Ohio’s first woman elected governor and its first Democratic governor since Ted Strickland, who served from 2007 to 2011, according to the Associated Press.

Dublin-area voters felt the stakes. At Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Dublin resident John Cacchio, 67, an independent, said he was frustrated with both parties but determined to cast his ballot, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

"I grew up in a time when there used to be politicians that would work across the aisle and work out things for the American people," Cacchio said. "That doesn't happen on both sides. It's not Republican or Democrat, it's both sides."

Unofficial results

As of 10:34 p.m. on Nov. 3, with 79.5% of the expected vote counted, Acton held 1,900,498 votes (50.4%) to Ramaswamy's 1,746,119 (46.3%), American Bazaar reported, citing NBC News and AP data. Libertarian candidate Don Kissick received 126,561 votes (3.4%).

Turnout across central Ohio ran high. Franklin County, which includes part of Dublin, reached 51.8% turnout by 5:40 p.m., above the 49% recorded in the 2022 midterms, the Dispatch reported.

Results are unofficial. The Ohio Secretary of State will certify results approximately three weeks after the election.

What it means for Dublin residents

Acton, 60, selected David Pepper as her running mate. Ramaswamy, 41, a Cincinnati native and biotech entrepreneur who had never held public office, ran with Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, WLWT reported.

The two candidates staked out different positions on taxes and affordability. Acton called for expanding tax credits for families and using state money to forgive medical debt, according to cleveland.com. Ramaswamy proposed gradually ending the state income tax and slashing local property taxes, cleveland.com reported.

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine could not run again because of term limits. Both President Donald Trump and DeWine had endorsed Ramaswamy, PBS NewsHour reported. Trump carried Ohio by more than 11 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election, American Bazaar reported.

A bitter campaign

The race drew national attention after Ramaswamy's campaign aired an ad featuring Acton's estranged mother. Acton was removed from her mother's custody at age 12 after her stepfather was indicted for raping her, PBS NewsHour reported. DeWine called for the ad to be pulled, and the campaign stopped airing it, American Bazaar reported.

More than $149 million in TV and radio ad spending was spent or reserved as of Nov. 2, with about three-quarters of that on behalf of Ramaswamy, cleveland.com reported. Ramaswamy personally loaned his campaign more than $40 million.

Closer to home, the Delaware County commissioner seat left open by the retirement of Barb Lewis also drew attention on Nov. 3. Early unofficial totals showed Reneé Vaughan leading Ryan Grissinger 57,350 to 56,836, or 50.23% to 49.77%, with 180 of 180 precincts reporting, the Dispatch reported. That race had not been called as of election night.

Unofficial statewide results will be updated through the Ohio Secretary of State's live results page at LiveResults.OhioSoS.gov.