Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton takes questions from the media during an Aug. 19, 2026 campaign stop in Columbus. AVERY KREEMER / STAFF
Democrat Amy Acton made a vow this week to tackle corruption in and around the Ohio Statehouse if she’s elected this November by illuminating dark money campaign spending and closing a “revolving door” that allows individuals to switch between private sector and government regulation.
Acton, who’s looking to become the first Democrat to lead Ohio since Ted Strickland left office in 2011, promised to sign executive orders on those topics on the first day of her prospective administration. A third order would create an “anti-corruption task force” meant to produce recommendations 100 days later.
“When I am governor, hard-working Ohioans will stop footing the bill for the cost of corruption in our state. It is time to put the needs of working families over the wants of billionaires, corporations and special interests,” Acton said in an Aug. 19 press release.
Executive orders
The press release made the case that Ohio’s appointment process “has been at the root of many of the state’s corruption scandals,” and argued that guardrails are needed.
“We believe that you can’t be sitting regulating something, and then flip over to the industry side, and then flip back over into the regulating side,” she said at an accompanying media event at a Columbus coffee shop on Aug. 19.
As explained by her campaign, the revolving door executive order would “prohibit lobbyists, lawyers and consultants who have represented, been employed by or received compensation from any organizations regulated by any Ohio regulatory entity in the past three years to then serve on the same regulatory entity.”
It would also require anyone pursuing a regulatory appointment from the governor’s office to sign a pledge, promising not to work for any organization they once regulated within three years of serving their appointment.
The order would also require anyone with a conflict of interest to recuse themselves.
On the dark money side of things, Acton’s campaign said dark money spending in political campaigns — which is prevalent on both sides in her campaign against Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy — “has taken our state backwards and raised prices for hardworking Ohioans.”
Her executive order would require state contractors and advocacy organizations to publicly disclose their donors; mandate that any company bidding on contracts above $50,000 disclose its political contributions.
Ramaswamy response
When asked for comment, a spokesperson with the Ramaswamy campaign told this outlet that Acton’s efforts were hypocritical.
“Talk about the pot calling the kettle black: Amy Acton blasting waste, fraud and abuse in the very government system she comes from, while dark-money groups she pretends to denounce are spending millions to prop up her campaign,” said Evan Machan in a statement. “What a joke.”