Amy Acton, 2026 Democratic candidate for Ohio Governor and former director of the Ohio Department of Health. (Photo provided by the Acton Campaign.)
Ohio gubernatorial candidate Dr. Amy Acton’s team says the “domestic dispute” that resulted in a police visit to her home in 2019 was just an ordinary argument between a husband and wife. They said the person who called 911 was likely concerned for Acton’s safety.
In 2019, when Acton was Ohio’s health director, police were called to her home in Bexley, a Columbus suburb.
The police report states that there was a “domestic dispute” and that Acton and her husband allegedly had a “verbal argument” over her “extended working hours.”
Report, first published by NBC Newsstates that Acton felt that her husband was “antagonizing” her, so as she was going down the stairs, she “grabbed the mirror on the wall and pulled it down, breaking the glass.”
The report indicated that both Acton and her husband had previously admitted to drinking and that “Acton stated that she had taken an unknown amount of prescription medications.”
Police wrote that Acton told them she wanted to leave and went to the garage, but her husband talked her out of it.
The report says a Columbus Fire Department paramedic advised Acton to go to the hospital, but she refused.
However, the police officer wrote that there was “no evidence of any physical violence” and it was “purely a verbal dispute.”
There is no mention in the report that Acton was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the police visit.
“It’s problematic in a campaign to have something like this come out,” said Republican strategist Bob Clegg.
Acton is running for governor against likely GOP nominee Vivek Ramaswamy, whom her team blames for leaking the report.
Acton declined to be interviewed, but her running mate, David Pepper, said Acton had only had one glass of wine and was not drunk. Their campaign indicated that it was a prescription drug for migraines.
“This is kind of a desperate attempt to destroy Amy Acton,” Pepper said in an interview on Monday.
“What do you do when you’re a desperate billionaire and you’re underwater? You use your money and resources to slander the other person.”
He added that it was just an ordinary quarrel between a husband and wife.
“I think someone called because they thought Dr. Acton was in danger,” Pepper said, but did not provide further details. “The police came, saw that this was not the case and that was the beginning and end.”
It’s unclear who called 911, and Bexley police no longer have the call to dispatch because the incident occurred seven years ago.
Clegg said the incident raised concerns about Acton’s ability to run the country.
“Is this an ongoing problem or was this an isolated incident?” he asked.
Other Republicans, including Donald Trump Jr., expressed their criticism online, arguing that Acton should “seek help” rather than run for governor. Ramaswamy X’s account reposted this.
At the time of the altercation, Acton was part of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration. DeWine didn’t know about it.
“Well, first of all, I don’t know what happened. I wasn’t there. All I said was I wish she would have reported it to us if the police were coming to the house, regardless of the facts,” DeWine said when asked about it. “I have no idea what the facts are.”
Pepper stated that there was no reason for Acton to tell DeWine about the police visit.
“I think most people, when they have a private argument with their spouse, they don’t necessarily tell their boss about it,” Pepper said.
Nothing came of it, he added.
DeWine, who was not thrilled with Ramaswamy’s election and endorsed him only about a year after most of his GOP colleagues did, came to Acton’s defense.
“Well, I’ll say what I always said in this Amy Acton: I think I did a good job as a director,” the governor replied. “I was the one who appointed her.”
For months, DeWine has defended Acton amid attacks on her for “shutdown” Ohio during the pandemic.
“The fact is, however, that she worked for me, like all members of the government, and the decisions that were made were made by the governor,” he said. “If any cabinet member gives an order, it was at my request.”
Ramaswamy’s team declined to comment.
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This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and are published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication on other news outlets because it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.
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