Dayton Daily News · Avery Kreemer · September 8, 2026
Ohioans likely won't get a chance to compare their gubernatorial options on the debate stage this year after the campaign of Democratic candidate Amy Acton publicly and firmly refused to debate Republican Vivek Ramaswamy.
"Dr. Acton's focus is on talking with Ohioans, not platforming a scam artist who spreads baseless lies about her and her family, uses AI to falsely paint her as someone with a substance abuse problem, and shames Dr. Acton for being sexually abused as a child while Vivek stands with predators and abusers," Acton's campaign manager Phil Stein said in a statement.
"Ramaswamy and his billionaire buddies have spent more than $50 million on disgusting, inaccurate attack ads that have been condemned as the 'most vile and repulsive lies' Ohio has ever seen."
Her campaign's statement followed a challenge from Ramaswamy, who announced that he had accepted debate invitations from CNN and a local NBC News affiliate, adding that he "hope(s) Amy Acton does the same."
Ramaswamy has since tried to capitalize on Acton's refusal by framing her as someone afraid to publicly defend her positions and her record.
"In a race, we may have different policy views, but we owe it to the voters to have a civil discourse and actually just defend our positions and say where we stand," Ramaswamy said in a Fox News appearance before painting Acton as someone shirking from voters.
"I hope we're going to see even Democrats, at least, demand, 'If you're going to claim to fight for us, at least show up and defend your positions.' And so, to that, I'll reiterate what I've been saying for the last several days: Amy Acton should show up and debate; and if you can't debate, you have no business trying to lead this state," the GOP nominee said.
A Facebook video posted by the Libertarian candidate on the ballot for Ohio governor, Don Kissick, shows him introducing himself to Ramaswamy at a Teamsters event in August and asking him, "So why don't we debate?"
Ramaswamy jokingly told him they could debate at the event, but added: "Just get the third candidate out. That might be a little trickier."
It's not necessarily new for Ohio's governor race not to feature a debate, but they usually do.
In the 2022 gubernatorial election, incumbent Gov. Mike DeWine refused a debate against Democratic challenger and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, arguing that he was constantly talking to voters and defending his record.
Similarly, there was no debate in then-Gov. John Kasich's reelection campaign in 2014 against Democrat Ed Fitzgerald.
Both DeWine and Kasich won reelection by landslides, but they are the only two gubernatorial candidates to refuse a debate since the turn of the century.
What differs between Ramaswamy and Acton compared to DeWine and Kasich is the fact that neither of them are incumbents. In fact, neither candidate has ever held elected office before at any level of government, leaving them both relatively shrouded from public view.
For Ramaswamy's part, he used the debate stage in the 2024 GOP presidential primary circuit to catapult himself from a political newcomer to the face of the Ohio Republican Party within two years.
Perhaps slightly undercutting Ramaswamy's argument against Acton is the fact that President Donald Trump -- whom he is endorsed by and aligned with -- participated in zero of the debates during that presidential primary, initially because he refused to pledge to accept the GOP primary results and then refusing a debate invitation from CNN.