Ohio Gov-elect Amy Acton on her childhood, an ‘era of change’ & more

I think a lot of people didn't know how rough. your childhood was until that horrible ad. It kind of like opened a window into what you went through. Up until the age of 12. Yeah. And I wonder how that experience, of poverty and, hunger and everything you went through. has informed you as a public official. and now a governor like,

how is it? How has it changed you and how has it made your priorities? Well, as you know, I'm a doctor. I'm not a politician. My last election was in high school, but I'm a special kind of doctor. and preventive medicine in public health, which treats whole communities. or whole states or whole countries as your patient, social. or environmental economic determinants of what kind of life will have. And I found this field because of my childhood. I, I started out in pediatrics actually, but I saw things much too late.

and my childhood made me want to stop suffering. And that's when I discovered this field, that allows me to get to root causes. and create the conditions in which people can flourish. So, I mean, what does that mean? That means immunizations. It means school lunches. Like, what does it mean? You know, it's all the levers of being government, governor. Actually, it it's everything from housing to what we do for opiates. But it's also the environment, the built environment.

I do a lot around economy of recreation and well-being there. But I've also learned how to sort of make sure that businesses are thriving. as well. It's creating the conditions of our lives. You know, we gain 30 years life expectancy in one century, but only five of them came when I learned in med school. the other 25 years comes from things we have to solve together, and it's usually government playing a good role, setting the table, being a convener and a catalyst.

But you do it, you know, alongside business and philanthropy and nonprofits. If you take housing, for example, these wicked hard problems. aren't going to be solved by one governor, one person alone. But it's about what we did a lot. And Covid. put the hard cards on the table and get the right people around the table. That's what I've been trained to do. I trained when Bob Taft was governor of the state of Ohio. I've worked with five different governors on both sides of the aisle. to try to make life better for Ohioans.

Now you're the first Democratic governor in, what, 60 is it, 16 years or something? Yes. Oh six was when when Governor Ted Strickland was elected. So. And 20 years before with Dick Celeste. So I when I start. when I was coming up in covering politics, Ohio was a battleground state. It was a swing state. Obama won it twice. And then it seemed like during the Trump era that Trump just took it off the map. Ohio and Iowa looked like gone.

And now I don't know. What do you think? Is it back? Is it back and play? You were elected and Sherrod Brown was reelected. Yes. What I would say is we're a very rigged state, a very gerrymandered state. And our our state government, is very corrupt. So what happened is we went on the ground for two and a half years. We went everywhere in the state. I turned out I had a constituency from the beginning. I was the health director for governor. Mike DeWine, a Republican governor.

And a bond formed. And it didn't. No party. The numbers I had at the end were the numbers I really had at the beginning. And that led me to feel like we had to go to ground. That's another thing I learned in public health. Go to community, go listen. And so we went places Dems haven't been in a while. We did some old school politics that I learned, from Governor Dix. Celeste, who's 89 years old now and stumped with me. But, you know, we created sort of that community, grassroots movement for change.

And I think that was baked into Ohio. Ohioans are very common sense, pragmatic people. I never was in a room in two and a half years. where people didn't tear up while I was speaking. Sherrod Brown's people said they'd never seen anything like it. Even grown men would tear up. Why? They're exhausted. People are exhausted of living this way. They're tired of the hate and chaos and vitriol. They're longing for public servants. They don't care what party you are,

but they want to know you're going to solve problems instead of make them. And I think there was something about the relationship I had as a doctor, as someone who listens deeply and, and they want, you know, we talked a lot about kindness and not as a fluffy term. Kindness is a fierce commitment to justice. and to seeing the humanity and one another. And that is what people are longing for. You're also the first woman elected governor.

There was a woman just. I have to be particular here because there was a woman who was governor. for 11 days when Voinovich ran for from governor to Senate. So. But that said, you're the first woman elected governor. What is that mean? What would the Amy Acton living in a tent? Yeah, in poverty. Think of that. Well, first of all, you know, I've been on the ground, listening to people. And since this ad, I've not been anywhere where people. aren't coming up sharing the stories of their childhood.

Men and women. This is all too frequent. Abuse of the kind of had half our kids are living in poverty, up to 70% in some pockets. So, you know, this is why I do what I do. And it has been startling take to see how many young girls. have been excited by this campaign. A lot of parents come up to me and say. their eight year old is following this closely. We were at a concert with, Olivia Rodrigo,

and that was it just it went through the whole culture of our city. It's an honor and a privilege to do this job. I was honored to work with the other governors that I've worked with, but I'm particularly honored to be the first woman. You're also, the first Jew elected governor. Your father is Jewish. And when he took you from your mom, you were raised Jewish. And this is a time of of rising anti-Semitism. And I'm wondering, how has that impacted your life for how you want to be governor?

You know, take it really did. During Covid, they were trying, you know, to keep the governor. and I from doing what we were doing, and they couldn't find anything on me. And that's that's where they when I said something to the governor, he had said, have a good virtual seder, and he was having Easter. So we exchange and I said, I make a mean bowl of matzo ball soup. Just joking around. I do very much. Okay. And but I'll be the judge of that. Yes, you will have that. That'll be later.

But the fact is you know. that kind of rhetoric just has no place in this. My husband's Episcopalian, my kids were raised to it. And, I just, you know, on the campaign, I had the privilege. of going to a lot of different religious, congregations. And what, you come away with it. And I'm a big studier of Joseph Campbell. This study of all world religions. You know, it's the values we all hold dear.

95% of what I heard on the campaign trail, no one would disagree on. That's such a learning curve for me. People want us working on. Yes, the cost of everyday living. There's no more breathing room out here. But they also want us to be leaders who bring the temperature down and help us. heal this thing that's been broken and sort of find one another again. I think that's what's been so exciting. You know, even weeks before the election, I just started to see something. Even when I was giving a talk, I found myself watching people.

and they're coming back to one another. It's almost like a spell was broken on election night. And and it's in every sector and business everywhere. People are almost giddy because they, they just want us to get back. to some sort of civic life that we recognize. Yeah. And as you said, Tim Russert was a favorite of mine, saying, as goes Ohio, so goes the nation.

We're the seventh largest state. It's an amazing state. We've always been the test market. I call it the United States of Ohio or little mini United States. in our demographics. And I do believe what we saw in Ohio that just didn't know party. We're up double digits in independents, I think 29 points. by the end and lots of Republicans crossed over. I just think people are ready to hear this and remember the values. we hold dear of neighborhoods of one another and community.

I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, the stuff of Bruce Springsteen songs, and when I grew up there, we didn't know what party you were in, but we knew what union you were in or what military branch. you served in, or civic groups or where you worshiped. And we absolutely knew the food you made from the country you came from. I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for the kindness of strangers. There was a couple who had pull my brother and I up on the front porch and feed us. breakfast, just walking by on our way to school,

you know, that's the world I want to live in. I think that's what I want for my kids and grandkids, and I think people are ready. I think we're on a tipping point, and if we keep going this way. and we keep pulling people back into those common values. and the common issues, I think we're going to have an era of change. It does seem as though a lot of people. who were practicing radical kindness. for want of another term, you,

governor elect, Rob Sand in Iowa. I don't know if you saw his speech after he was elected, but talking about like, conversations and talking to people until you found something you agree on. Yeah. Adam Hamilton. Not giving up on one another. Right. James Talarico. That's right. It did seem as though that was something that in a different era, maybe even 2. or 4 years ago, people in the electorate might have thought it was weakness. Yeah. When actually, kindness is not weakness.

It's actually a lot tougher. Kindness is not weakness. And I actually did research on this subject. We are hardwired for human connection. We are social beings at our core. And that's why I think I've seen the tears everywhere I go. You know, big burly men tearing up and your what is happening here? It's been an exhausting ten years, you know, a global pandemic, life. being unending, upended for us all. and and and politics being so full of this chaos and vitriol.

You know, I absolutely felt. by the end of this election that decency was on the ballot, that unity and communal life and this collective, solving of problems. You know, I'm a problem solver at heart, and people want us to solve problems instead of make them. And they're tired of the drama. Do you think you can work with President Trump? I have already worked with President Trump.

When I was director of health. I worked with his administration. We had uranium possibly leaking and picked in Ohio, decommissioned uranium. And I worked with. the Department of Energy, Rick Perry and him and a number of other issues. I'll work with anyone on any side of an aisle that wants to solve problems. But I'll also say, if you want to, you know, barter and exploitation. or you want to pit us against one another and make it chaotic. I am a scrappy kid from Youngstown.

As this campaign showed, I'm not afraid of a fight. if it's standing up for the people of my state. Speaking of the people of your state, we did a town hall during the Biden years. after the tragedy, in East Palestine, Ohio. And one of the things that I never understood was, how Biden didn't go, and I don't want to kick Joe Biden. It's not about that. But but but there was a there was a partizanship. that overtook that crisis. Yes.

Or at least a perceived partizanship that it didn't it didn't seem healthy to me. Do you remember? You know what. I I'm absolutely do. And and here's the thing. Even when I was director of health and worked with five different governors. on both sides, I'm trained to go to ground as a doctor, as a doctor. And you're not finding out what's their party affiliation before you go there. Right. And all of that falls away, you know, in Covid, which the governor DeWine and I you know, we're fairly well known during that time. I think that's when we met.

It all fell away, for for six weeks, almost. The heroism knew no bounds. And I just think that as leaders, this is a time that's asking for us to put the hard cards on the table. I remember in Covid, I would say things like, I don't know as an answer. And usually you would never say that in politics, but it made people feel better because it was the truth. People are longing for the truth.

They can take it. And then I would say, but here's what we're going to do together. to solve this problem or to find out what we need to know. And, you know, in a crisis like East Palestine, you got to go to ground, listen to the people in the community to really diagnose it. And I do believe the governor did that. You're speaking. style was something that got a lot of attention. A lot of, trolls would suggest.

that you were drunk all the time because of the way that you speak. You have a particularly Appalachian kind of way of speaking. that is not unfamiliar to me. As somebody from Pennsylvania, it's Pennsylvania. I think I'm, Youngstown's right on the border of Pennsylvania. Yeah. And it's not unfamiliar to me, but. But people, it must have been weird for people to accuse you. of being drunk when you're just like, no, I'm just tired or whatever. No, it's. We know that, from the very beginning, my opponent had spent.

$80 million in ads use up over 150, but he started in March. Our first ad was in August. You know, we had to save back and get ready for the end. And from the beginning, the ads were full of, you know, dicks. Less said they were lying and buying their way. It was never about the substance of issues. It was always sort of misogynistic attacks on me. I suggested you weren't a real doctor. I know it's, you know, I've had a perfect medical license. Outstanding,

awards and credentials, and. But that was what they they didn't have anything to go after me. Possibly because I'm not a lifelong politician. and I'm more of a public servant. But what I'll tell you is it never worked. It never moved. The needle won. And and then when we went up to tell our story, you know, we just saw those numbers start to spread. So let's talk about that. And the day that that ad dropped,

a Republican I know who was on the ground. in Ohio told me that the ad did two things. One, it made Ohioans think. Vivek does not share our values, that he would do this. And this is even before any of the facts came out, even refuting it. It was just not even knowing the facts. Just like, what is this? And two, this Republican said, that it gave you your response, gave you a stature that maybe people hadn't seen in you before.

Right. Did you, did you see it that way? Or when you're. I guess let's just start at the beginning. How did you find out that this ad was on TV? Well, first of all, my lieutenant governor, David Pepper, called me to tell me online, the rooster, which is, a person who does. some sort of shadow, you know, news on the side. Saw it. I wasn't surprised.

I'd like to say I was surprised, but I knew there was no low. my opponent wouldn't go to from everything he had done. previously and what I'd seen of him in his past. Race. You saw Nikki Haley and Chris Christie come out? Exactly. It was the same, you know, and I keep saying the words are leaders use matter. And I learned that during Covid. Now Ohioans knew me. Well, I was on air every day for an hour and a half alongside governor Mike DeWine. I was an honor to do that.

We flatten the curve. We saved a lot of lives. And we opened earlier in Ohio because we took swift, decisive action. So people had seen me lead before, but after, you know, 80. and 100 million and ads, you know, people start to lose sight of that. But what I can tell you is, my dialog. or my dialect has always been this, but I'm very much a leader in crisis. I'm a different kind of leader, though. I, I lead by convening and catalyzing people, by doing collaborative.

work, by painting north stars that we can all road to. And I've had a successful career doing it the way I do as Amy, as a doctor. This and this, came up. They had tried this. I had not seen my birth mother since I was 12 years old, in a courthouse as as my stepfather was being indicted. And she was in trouble as well. My brother was nine during Covid, operation Rescue found her.

They did something, but no one would cover it. Because. And that just shows you. how much they were trying to silence people leading during that time. But the media didn't cover it because she seemed so unwell. And that was the other thing. Within half half of the ad going by, I just knew she wasn't well. I have learned so much about my my birth. mother since what happened to her in that time. Yet, things I didn't know as a 12 year old child.

But, you know, I knew there was no low that they wouldn't go to. Did you know that your stepfather had been charged. previously with with his daughter from a previous marriage? You knew that already? Yes. There had been at the time of the court case, 11. other kids that were known after they skipped the state. Because back then, if you cross state lines, there was no jurisdiction for child abuse. You know, it was 19 said.

There were 11 other kids at. 11 that I had heard of. I had heard that one of his own children. If not, I think there may have been more. And but then one of their witnesses, after they left, came forward and said her daughter had been molested. So this was a bad actor. But, you know, my mother had not been well, you know, from. she separated from my dad when I was three and we had a very chaotic childhood. The things I've heard since about pets dying,

I mean that my mother loves strays and she would take every animal. And it was chaotic. There would be litters everywhere and excrement everywhere. And so hearing this story about it, all of it just rang true. But at 60, you know, Jake, I've done a lot of work in my life to process all that. Yeah, you never lose that. But it's also great source of my strength. It's what's given me a lifelong passion. to make life better for people and especially young people.

One thing I know about trauma of childhood trauma is that. often when somebody is triggered, they immediately respond. as they were emotionally when the trauma happened. Yeah. So I can't imagine as strong as you are. Yeah. That there wasn't the nine year old Amy act and the ten year old Amy acting. emotionally inside responding to this. being done in the most public and nasty way imaginable.

I mean, I think that and just as somebody who's covered politics, I think that's the ugliest ad I've ever seen, ever covering politics. This is what people say. And I can tell you that the response of people everywhere, all over the world, we've heard from people, but more importantly, the response of Ohioans in rope lines at rallies. I was that coming forward with her stories and,

you know, a lot of people talked about my leadership during Covid. The New York Times had written a story, The Leader we wish we all had. And I think I solve problems differently because of my childhood. I am hypervigilant, I see things other people don't see. I solve four dimensionally. If people thought I could predict the future. But I think there are certain strengths that you get, and I hope people out there. who have gone through a thing or two, and many of us have none of us get out of this life unscathed.

We all go through things, but. those are also the things if you spend the time to learn about yourself. I have a very good compass, I reflected a lot. Did therapy, you know, that was one of the things I was attacked for doing outpatient therapy. And, because I wanted to learn about my childhood. And as a parent and raising my own kids, I wanted to know what. I brought with me from that. And so I just want people out there,

first of all, people going through something right now, it's. sometimes not safe to speak up, but when it is, please do. It was very hard. I was threatened, my life was threatened if I ever spoke up. And so it. And I lived in fear for a lot of years after he skipped as a fugitive, having threatened to kill me if I ever said anything. And he was a scary enough person that you believe it. Sure. And you're 12 years old. Yeah, and you're 12 years old. So. But I, I just want folks to know.

that life can get so much better. And it's something that you revisit at different stages of your life, but I've had an amazing, amazing life. And I'm unlucky in many ways that when people in Ohio are telling me. their stories of struggling, I know what it feels like. Know what it feels like to not have housing. I know what it feels like. to not have the heat on, to go hungry or wait in line for food. And I just want to be a part of the many, many heroes and leaders.

that are growing together right now with the goal of making life. better for all of us. I that's the world I want to live in. Was there ever a time where you, like, had to go in a room. and take a second to yourself, or go home and hug your husband? Or, I mean, I can't imagine. the way that this. trauma was brought up publicly. in this way by this person. Vivek Ramaswamy.

I, I was very focused. We were, what, two weeks, two and a half weeks from Election Day. And I kept saying, I'm sure I'll process parts of this later. So much news has been uncovered, that I haven't had time, but I, you know, Jon Stewart did a comedy sketch on it, and I didn't know what I would feel. as I watched it, but I laughed so hard, I cried and I thought to myself, in a strange way, I never had justice when I was 12,

but this actually gave me a closure. Did it really. Of some sort that I can't express it? And, you know, there's nothing. And in 150 million of attack ads that were just all based attacking me. personally in ways that particularly women should never be attacked. You know, the vice president said something like, in one of his rallies, I'll, I, I don't know, Amy, but you know, I'd be glad to meet her in a bar because I hear she likes that sort of thing.

You know, my jaw had already hit the ground. You know, it's stunning. You also described your. The ad as speaking the truth. And he also complained that Republicans were whining about the ad. I mean. My opponent talks a lot about whining. His PAC is called victors, not victims, but I've never seen anyone wanting more. So I just think that. It's not your opponent anymore. Yes. My yes. Thank you. That's a great point. He is not. And we're going to leave that behind. You beat him.

Yeah, soundly. He. It sounds like he called you and you let it go to voicemail. Yes. And you know, we had a decision to make around debating. which I know didn't make sense to everyone right away, but. my opponent had already gone beyond the pale and his attacks on me. So many lies and so many distortions. And I just recognize that I don't want to normalize this sort of behavior. I think it's time all of us have a little more courage.

You know, I love debates, I love I was on air for an hour and a half. every day during the pandemic, months on end, answering the hardest questions. I'll, you know, I've done ad boards. We were approved to every Ed board endorsed us in this state. We answered every media person's question. Ohioans questions. I'll always do that. But I decided I didn't want to normalize this kind of behavior and, you know, civic dialog and debate is about ideas and it's about having differences.

You know, I've worked with five different governors. Three of them Republican. And we we debated issues. We don't agree on everything. But at the end of the day, that disagreement made better policy. to make people's lives better. But I won't normalize what happened in this campaign. You're the governor now of a of a Republican state. I mean, it's still they voted for you, and they voted for Sherrod Brown.

But in a. Very independent state, more independents than anything, maybe slightly more Republican. But we have a coalition that has a lot of Republicans. How much is that going to matter as you govern? Do you know what I mean? Like Jon Ossoff, Raphael Warnock, are Democratic senators. in a pretty Republican state, even though they now to also have. a Democratic woman governor, the first that they've ever had. And Ossoff and Warnock have negotiated it in a way.

Right. Where they focus a lot on constituent service. Yes. And I mean, Ossoff won by like 18 or 19 points. Now. I mean, how important is it to you for you to. know that. most of your constituents are probably more conservative than you? I am a very pragmatic problem solver. As I said, my last election was in high school, so I remember. You won that. And I've won that. You know, so we were one hour or two for two. Okay.

But I'm a lifelong public servant, and I have always had to work. with people on both sides of the aisle to get problem solved. You know, we have a very big Medicaid crisis here on January 27th. We have babies being born roadside in Ohio, rural hospitals collapsing. We're going to be going out the gate. But I actually work with Governor Kissack and academics at OSU to. to expand Medicaid because they realized it was a cost effective thing to do. So I have always had to work this way.

But the biggest thing that I hope I will do differently, that I did differently in the campaign and will continue to do, is I'm going to go out and community. I'm going to go to the people of Ohio. And when you do that, you realize, as I said, 95%. of what people talk about, no one disagrees on. We've got to lower costs immediately coming in. We need to save our public schools. right now, which are we had a bipartisan funding agreement to do that. They disregarded it in our statehouse.

We broke our supermajority, by the way. So I have a veto that can stand. Governor DeWine did not have that as a Republican governor. And I believe we're going to end. gerrymandering in a bipartisan way in my state next year. I'm going to put in an independent commission, and I want this to end. We need good people on both sides. of the aisle to to consider running for office. I'm doing a massive call to public service. We need a whole new generation of young people. And believe me, they're out there and ready to go.

I fell in love with this work. It has been an incredible, lifetime of doing public service. And I hope we can draw a lot of young people into this game. I think that when we have an era of change ahead. Governor elect Doctor Acton, thank you so much. Thank you. Really nice to meet you. Honor.