Amy Acton’s Past COVID-19 Role May Come Back to Haunt Her

As Ohioans begin thinking about who they want to serve as the state’s next governor, statements Dr. Amy Acton made as Ohio’s former health director could come back to haunt her.

Before running as the Democrat nominee for governor, Acton led the Ohio Department of Health under Gov. Mike DeWine from 2019 to 2020. Her response to the pandemic was especially unpopular, and she’s had to walk back multiple statements about the threat to public health.

Most recently, comments she made during an appearance last fall on Fox News’ “Better Bad Ideas w/Sean O’Brien” have resurfaced, drawing fire from Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

“In those early days, the mortality rate was 50%. I started with that in March. By June, when we reopened, it was because we took swift, decisive action. The mortality rate had gone down to 5%. We learned how to save lives,” Acton claimed.

Numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tell a different story. Provisional mortality data for 2020 shows an estimated age-adjusted death rate of 15.9%. When COVID-19 was the underlying cause of death or a contributing cause, it was an estimated 11.3% of those deaths.

Acton’s office said her comments were limited to hospital rates, and that Ramaswamy made recommendations that were imprudent and self-interested.

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“While Dr. Acton was working hand in hand with Gov. DeWine to keep Ohioans safe, Vivek Ramaswamy was calling for mandatory COVID-19 testing, making more than $2 billion off of the COVID vaccine and recommending segregating Ohioans based on biomarker status,” Addie Bullock, a spokesperson for Acton’s campaign, told Fox News.

But, throughout his campaign, Ramaswamy has pointed to the shutdowns as evidence that Acton isn’t fit to serve as governor.

During a Young Republican event in January, Ramaswamy referenced the early public-school closures in Ohio under Acton’s orders, while his alma mater, St. Xavier High School, barely shut down at all. Acton’s shutdown of schools and businesses has been questioned by others, as well.

“It pained me during COVID, under the failed leadership of Amy Acton, to see so many of these small businesses that have been around for generations shuttered across the state,” Ohio Senate candidate Zac Haines said, speaking last Tuesday at a campaign event for Ramaswamy, where Acton’s opponent was touting his endorsement from the Ohio Chamber of Commerce PAC.

“We were the first state to shut down schools, creating a tremendous learning deficit,” Haines continued, adding that he is “a parent of young children.”

The issue has cropped up in other media.

Last Thursday, The Columbus Dispatch posted a letter to the editor from a Columbus resident, who wrote, “Amy Acton hurt my sons. I am still fuming.”

“The reality is that Amy Acton was responsible for the orders that shut down our state. Under her express order, Ohio became the first state in the nation to shut down our public schools, which affected both my sons,” Andrew Warner wrote. “I watched how it negatively affected their social development, a problem that took years to remedy. Furthermore, her actions restricted families from seeing their loved ones in senior homes and hurt Ohio’s small businesses.”

The Ramaswamy campaign claims opinions like these illustrate why Acton isn’t fit to lead.

“Liberal Amy Acton’s outrageous claims just confirm what we already know: she’s an incompetent, failed government bureaucrat who ran our state into the ground and is wholly unqualified to lead Ohio,” campaign spokeswoman Connie Luck told the Daily Signal.

Other Republicans are pointing to how Acton’s decisions as health director were incoherent or biased, or showed favoritism toward liberal groups.

State Rep. Adam Mathews, sharing his views with The Columbus Dispatch, wrote on Monday, “Amy Acton closed churches, kept abortions going. I am Catholic. That’s what matters.”

“County fairs, homecoming dances and hospital visits were banned, yet Ohio’s abortion clinics stayed open [after suing],” Mathews wrote.

He also noted that support for Acton “is simply incompatible with church teaching,” and that abortion “is still the top Catholic issue,” citing official guidance from bishops.

The Ohio GOP, however, has run ads focused on Acton’s personal life, making accusations about alcohol and drug use.

As each candidate ramps up attacks with an eye toward general election in November, which issues ultimately gain traction may come down to how the average Ohioan feels about Acton’s impact on the state as health director.

The Acton campaign did not respond to the Daily Signal’s request for comment.