Ramaswamy Leads Acton in Ohio Governor Race
ActiVote’s October 19, 2026 Ohio Governor poll finds that Republican Vivek Ramaswamy leads Democrat Amy Acton by 2.8%. The poll was in the field between September 27 and October 19 (median field date of October 8). The poll was among 400 likely midterm voters and has an average expected error of 4.9%.
Ramaswamy leads among rural and suburban voters, voters under 65, men, White voters, voters on high incomes, voters with no more than a high school education and college-educated voters. Acton leads among urban voters, voters aged 65 and older, women, Black voters, voters on low and middle incomes and graduate degree holders. These group figures rest on subsamples for which the expected error is considerably larger than the 4.9% for the poll as a whole. Ohio does not register voters by party, so we do not report a breakdown by party affiliation.
Political Spectrum
The following graph shows the support for Ramaswamy and Acton among left, moderate left, center, moderate right, and right voters. These groups are defined by splitting the Ohio electorate in 5 equal sized groups of 20% each.
The two candidates hold their own sides about equally firmly. Acton takes all of the left and 84% of the moderate left, while Ramaswamy takes 93% of the right and 89% of the moderate right. The race is decided in the center, where Ramaswamy leads by 62% to 38%.
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 | 400 LV | Unweighted | Weighted | Vivek Ramaswamy | Amy Acton |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National | ±4.9% MoE | 100% | 100% | 51.4% | 48.6% |
| Political Spectrum | Left | 44% | 20% | 0% | 100% |
| Moderate Left | 28% | 20% | 16% | 84% | |
| Center | 9% | 20% | 62% | 38% | |
| Moderate Right | 7% | 20% | 89% | 11% | |
| Right | 12% | 20% | 93% | 7% | |
| Region | rural | 34% | 38% | 62% | 38% |
| suburban | 43% | 38% | 52% | 48% | |
| urban | 23% | 24% | 35% | 65% | |
| Age | 18-29 | 41% | 11% | 54% | 46% |
| 30-49 | 37% | 24% | 66% | 34% | |
| 50-64 | 14% | 25% | 60% | 40% | |
| 65+ | 9% | 40% | 37% | 63% | |
| Gender | F | 38% | 53% | 36% | 64% |
| M | 62% | 47% | 69% | 31% | |
| Ethnicity | White | 88% | 84% | 55% | 45% |
| Black | 6% | 10% | 31% | 69% | |
| Income | Low | 31% | 24% | 48% | 52% |
| Middle | 29% | 30% | 45% | 55% | |
| High | 40% | 46% | 58% | 42% | |
| Education | HS | 25% | 27% | 52% | 48% |
| College | 68% | 58% | 57% | 43% | |
| Grad | 7% | 15% | 27% | 73% |
Every poll in this race
| Published | Ramaswamy | Acton | Gap | Sample | MoE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 19, 2026 | 51.4% | 48.6% | R+2.8% | 400 | ±4.9% |