Ramaswamy Blames Acton for Ohio Primary Delay

Ohio primary – A Ramaswamy ad targets former health director Amy Acton over Ohio’s 2020 primary timing during COVID-19, but state leaders say the call was DeWine’s.

A Republican ad attacking former Ohio health director Dr. Amy Acton over the timing of the state’s 2020 presidential primary is drawing pushback after Gov. Mike DeWine and other top officials insisted the decision to postpone in-person voting was theirs.

In Ohio’s gubernatorial race. Vivek Ramaswamy has repeatedly pointed to Acton. who led the state health department in 2019 and for part of 2020. as the driver of the abrupt disruption to the March 17. 2020. election.. One Ramaswamy campaign ad alleges that Acton “called off Ohio’s election at the last minute. ” adding that she “def[ied] a judge’s orders” and abused her power.. A separate ad later framed the delay as a theft of voters’ chance to cast ballots.

Ramaswamy’s campaign spokesperson. in turn. directed attention to an order Acton signed in March 2020 that closed polling sites during the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak.. But DeWine. a Republican who endorsed Ramaswamy. has maintained that he made the decision to postpone the primary and that Acton’s role reflected execution of the administration’s direction.

The dispute turns on how the public understood the legal and operational steps required to shift a statewide election during a fast-moving public health crisis.. In March 2020. Ohio join other states that ultimately postponed primaries and expanded vote-by-mail options as the virus spread and concerns mounted about infection risks at polling locations.

DeWine and Secretary of State Frank LaRose. also a Republican. asked a judge to move the primary from March to June.. The judge declined the request. warning that delaying the election on such a last-minute basis could create a “terrible precedent.” That left state officials pursuing another route to reduce in-person exposure: a health department action that could close polling sites.

DeWine said that conducting the election as scheduled would have forced poll workers and voters into what he described as an “unacceptable health risk” of contracting coronavirus.. He said Acton would order the polls closed as a response to the health emergency.. On March 16. 2020. DeWine posted on social media recommending postponing in-person voting until June 2. and he stressed the tension of telling people to stay home while still holding an election.

In the background, Acton’s order cited the status of the outbreak in Ohio and recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about limiting gatherings. The Ohio Supreme Court denied a legal challenge to the order delaying the primary, leaving the postponement in place.

Even as the scheduled in-person vote changed, state leaders said the election would still happen.. At a March 17, 2020 press conference with Acton and Lt.. Gov.. Jon Husted, DeWine said those who wanted to vote would have an opportunity later.. He also expressed concern about the health of tens of thousands of poll workers, many of them elderly.

Husted. during that same period of public briefings. discussed concerns about whether the election could be run safely. including that a county poll worker had exhibited COVID-19 symptoms.. LaRose had also told Husted that polling staffing would be difficult, given the public health risks to those workers.

The Ohio General Assembly later postponed the primary until April 28 and converted it into a vote-by-mail election, reflecting how the initial shutdown of polling sites evolved into a broader change in how the election would be conducted.

For years afterward, DeWine continued to defend his role in the decision.. In April 2026. he told NBC4’s Colleen Marshall that he consulted with state officials. including Acton. but that the decision to delay the primary was his.. Marshall reported DeWine describing the stakes as urgent, saying he decided to act because he believed people were at risk.

That position was echoed in earlier statements aired by NBC4 during its reporting, where DeWine and Husted attributed responsibility for the voting delay to the governor. DeWine has also said publicly that in the decisions made during COVID-19, “the buck stops” with him.

Statehouse News Bureau reported that DeWine similarly supported the idea that cabinet-level orders during the crisis were made at his direction, underscoring that Acton, as an appointee, worked under the governor’s framework even if the health department issued the directive.

Ramaswamy’s campaign claims that Acton “called off” the election at the last moment.. But the record from Ohio’s officials at the time portrayed a different sequence: the day before the March 17 primary. Ohio shifted course amid the pandemic. state leaders said they would ensure people still could vote. and the in-person primary was held later.

Acton’s order is part of the story. but DeWine’s account—reinforced by statements from LaRose and Husted—says the decision to postpone the election’s in-person component was the governor’s call.. In that framing. Ramaswamy’s ads focus heavily on Acton’s signature and omit how top officials repeatedly described ownership of the postponement decision.

In the end. the core conflict is less about whether Acton signed a closure order and more about who ultimately directed the change.. DeWine has said he directed Acton to issue the directive. pointing to health concerns for voters and election workers and to the state’s escalating emergency conditions during the opening phase of the pandemic.

Ohio primary delay Vivek Ramaswamy Amy Acton Mike DeWine COVID-19 voting Frank LaRose Jon Husted