Former Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Director Amy Acton announced Tuesday that she is running as a Democratic candidate for governor of the state.
“I am a doctor, not a politician,” she said in a statement, according to Hill. “I solve problems by bringing people together, regardless of party, to find solutions. So, unlike most of our leaders, I know that the answer to moving our country forward is not to give politicians more power, but to give people more freedom.”
“Today I filed to run for governor because I cannot turn my eyes away from Ohioans who struggle while self-serving politicians and special interests steer our state in the wrong direction,” she added. “It’s time to give power back to the people and our communities. It’s time for a change.”
Acton has become a fixture in Ohio households during the Covid-19 pandemic. As ODH director at the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic, she led the state’s efforts to combat the disease.
She gained national media attention for her daily press conferences during the 2020 pandemic.
The New York Times Opinion Section published a video on May 5, 2020 titled “Dr. Amy Acton, the leader we all wish we had.”
Moreover, according to Charmshe even had a Facebook fan club with over 135,000 members. This fanpage no longer exists on Facebook.
Acton had it too baby ia shirt made in her honor. Former Health Director and Governor Mike DeWine featured in a “Laverne and Shelry” parody in support of the state’s response to Covid-19.
Despite all the national attention, Acton became polarizing as health director. Republicans, during her tenure as health director, attempted to take over ODH while Democrats introduced a naming bill on February 26 “Doctor Day by Amy Acton.”
At the beginning of the Covid-19 epidemic, Acton predicted that Ohio would act as if at least 100,000 people were infected with the Covid-19 virus.
“The sheer fact that the virus is spreading in the community tells us that at least one percent, at least one percent of our population is carrying this virus in Ohio today. We have 11.7 million people, so in the calculations it is over 100,000,” Acton said on March 12, 2020.
The next day, Acton stated that she was “guest” reporting that number.
“I’m not saying it’s absolutely certain 100,000 people,” Acton said. – I’m just guessing. If I guess what the community reach is, that’s my best guess.”
After ODH welcomed this number from March 15 to March 25, 2020, the health department did not publish data on Covid-19 testing. When the news became public, the state had conducted 14,764 tests and only 704 people tested positive. This represented a 4.7 percent positive test rate at the time.
As of August 1, 2020, Ohio has had over 100,000 total cases of Covid-19.
At a March 27, 2020 press conference, Acton predicted that by April 19, 2020, Ohio would see as many as 10,000 up-to-date cases per day. As of March 26, Ohio had only 15 deaths and 223 hospitalizations.
On April 7, 2020, Acton he said Ohioans had to brace for a tough few weeks as the state entered the projected peak of the epidemic. However, when telling people this, she used a chart without any numerical labels to explain the status of the coronavirus in Ohio.
“We are that blue line in Ohio. Please, Ohioans, we have a difficult few weeks ahead of us,” she said.
After discussing the blue line, Acton said — pointing to the unmarked yellow line — that if Ohio eases stay-at-home restrictions, the state will change its trajectory and look like the original yellow curve. (Shown below).
Covid-19 cases in Ohio increased, but were nowhere near the level Acton predicted. According to ODH, between April 1, 2020 and May 1, 2020, there were 17,582 cases and 1,041 deaths in Ohio data. The average case over those 31 days was 567.
The forecast up-to-date cases by April 19, 2020, decreased by 700%.
In June 2020, she stepped down as ODH director. She remained DeWine’s top health adviser until August 5, 2020. She returned to work at the Columbus Foundation on September 1, 2020.
Acton did not last long in the foundation because on February 4, 2021 Acton left his position and was then considered a Democrat candidate in Ohio in 2022. She did not run for the Senate in 2022.
Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted and former Democratic representative Tim Ryan will also be running, according to The Hill.
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Zachery Schmidt is a digital editor Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected]. Follow Zachery on Twitter @zacheryschmidt2.
