The Associated Press has called Ohio's governor's race for Democrat Amy Acton, defeating Trump-backed Republican Vivek Ramaswamy 2,204,745 votes to 1,953,015 in the count when the race was called at 10:49 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday night. Acton, 60, Ohio's former health director, becomes the first woman ever elected governor of Ohio and the first Democrat to win the office since Ted Strickland in 2006, ending two decades of Republican control in a state Donald Trump has carried three times.
Acton led the state's health department under Republican Governor Mike DeWine, who appointed her in 2019 and stood beside her at the daily briefings of the pandemic's first months. Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur, put an estimated 36 million dollars of his own money into the race and outspent her heavily. His campaign's final weeks were marked by an attack ad featuring Acton's estranged mother that drew national criticism, including from DeWine himself — while Trump backed Ramaswamy and said Acton was “fair game.” Ramaswamy, who left Acton a voicemail, called it “a tough night for us here in Ohio.” Acton takes office in January, succeeding the term-limited DeWine, and posted her own verdict on the night: “It's the honor of my lifetime to be named your Ohio Governor-Elect.”
In the fight for Congress, the AP's House count has reached 218 seats for the Democrats — the number that takes the majority — with Democrats at 218 seats won and 42 more races leading when the mark was hit, against 133 won and 38 leading for the Republicans. The 218th seat was Johnny Garcia's win in Texas's 35th District over Trump-endorsed Republican Carlos De La Cruz. With the Senate already declared for the Democrats, the AP says Democrats take unified control of Congress — both chambers now stand between President Trump's agenda and its passage.
Montana gave Republicans one of the night's holds. The AP called the state's open Senate seat for Republican Kurt Alme, defeating independent Seth Bodnar 188,899 to 152,438 in the count at call time. The seat opened when Senator Steve Daines withdrew minutes before the filing deadline and endorsed Alme, a former U.S. Attorney for Montana who also carried Trump's endorsement. Bodnar — a West Point graduate, former Army Ranger and former University of Montana president, backed by former Democratic Senator Jon Tester — conceded, while Democrat Alani Bankhead's presence on the ballot split the voters opposed to Alme. Alme's victory post promised he would “fight to make life more affordable, make our communities safer, and always protect our Montana way of life.”
For families, the three results draw the map of the next two years. Ohioans get divided government at home: a Democratic governor facing a Republican legislature, where fights over taxes, school funding and data centers will decide what actually changes in Columbus. In Washington, a Democratic House and Senate mean every bill, budget and confirmation now runs through the president's opponents. And Montana's hold is one of the seats that kept the new Senate majority at 51-49 rather than something larger.
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