Of all the mudslinging and smear campaigning across the country in this fraught election year, few races are as nasty as the one for governor of Ohio. Dr. Amy Acton, a Democrat who was once the state’s chief public health officer, holds a narrow lead against Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican who made a mint in pharmaceutical start-ups, according to a New York Times and Siena University poll released on Sunday.
The two candidates differ significantly on policy matters, but their campaign advertisements, mailers and social media have not all been about substance. Instead, voters might think one candidate is a con artist; the other is a drunk. “It’s definitely ugly,” said Christopher Gagin, the former chairman of the Belmont County Republican Party. “This is all very, very personal.”
Despite the attacks, Dr. Acton is viewed more favorably than unfavorably, while Mr. Ramaswamy is viewed more unfavorably, but by a narrow margin. Ramaswamy backers are outspending the Acton camp by more than three-to-one, and many ads have inflated a single night in August 2019 when police were called to the Acton home. The state Republican Party has described Dr. Acton as “violent” and “unstable.”
Still, there are few signs that the personal attacks are undermining traditional partisan loyalties in Ohio.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing