In a recent article published in the Washington Examiner, five current and former state government workers, including staffers from the Ohio Health Department and the governor's office, said Dr. Amy Acton (pictured above), the Democratic nominee for Ohio governor, was emotionally volatile and often absent from daily strategizing sessions during the pandemic while serving as the state's top health official responsible for leading Ohio's COVID-19 response.
The interviews paint a picture of an emotionally reactive leader who struggled to handle the demands of the job, even in the time preceding the pandemic.
One described Acton's conduct in the workplace as erratic and said she was prone to emotional episodes, to the point that she was once allegedly found "curled up" into a ball on the floor before one of the emergency response meetings and seen crying in the bathroom in another incident described by someone who worked with her.
Several sources who worked with Acton also said she was sensitive to criticism and resistant to opposing viewpoints, with the internal conversations leading up to Acton's resignation turning heated because staffers advocated for the state to lift restrictions on businesses and allow schools to resume in-person learning.
"It was just unbelievable to hear what some of the people stated relative to her time as the health director during COVID," comments John Stover, president of Ohio Value Voters. "I spoke to a high-ranking official to confirm that story, and basically what was said was, 'Yes, she's not fit to serve.'"
Acton campaign spokeswoman Addie Bullock has denied the series of claims, but Stover's organization has officially endorsed Vivek Ramaswamy for governor.
"I firmly believe that he'll bring the type of leadership that our state has been lacking for the last eight years under our current governor, Mike DeWine," Stover tells AFN.
Polling shows Ramaswamy as essentially in a statistical dead heat with Acton, with the newest polling showing the Democrat holding a small edge.
