Campaign staffers for Amy Acton, Ohio’s former health director and the Democratic nominee for governor, confronted a Republican political activist filming at one of her events in Harrison, Ohio, last Saturday.
The cameraman approached Acton and asked why she continued to turn down invitations to debate her Republican opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy. Her staff quickly moved between the two, blocking his access to Acton.
Video of the exchange shows Acton walking away without responding. The incident comes as Ramaswamy’s campaign steps up criticism of her refusal to debate, with both candidates entering the final stretch of the Ohio governor’s race.
“Dr. Amy Acton, why do you refuse to debate your opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy?” the interviewer asked.
“No photos, no videos,” staff members repeatedly said. “I said — no pictures, no interviews.”
During the confrontation, one of Acton’s staffers appeared to bump into the cameraman, briefly jolting his camera out of frame. He then urged them to be “careful.”
Acton did not answer the questions.
Earlier this month, after Ramaswamy accepted a debate invitation from CNN, Acton’s campaign told local media that she would not participate.
“Dr. Acton’s focus is on talking with Ohioans, not platforming a scam artist who spreads baseless lies about her and her family, uses AI to falsely paint her as someone with a substance abuse problem, and shames Dr. Acton for being sexually abused as a child while Vivek stands with predators and abusers,” a campaign spokesperson said in a Sept. 2 statement.
The statement referred to several Republican attacks, including criticism of Acton’s role in Ohio’s COVID-19 response, a 2019 verbal domestic dispute that occurred while she was intoxicated, and AI-generated campaign advertisements that altered her car’s license plate to read “drunk mom.”
It also appeared to reference Ramaswamy’s reserved position on releasing the Epstein files at the beginning of his campaign for governor.
Ramaswamy did not engage with Acton’s criticism in his response.
He seized on her decision, calling into question her qualifications to lead the state as its top executive while, at the same time, refusing to press her case on a debate stage.
“It’s too bad for Ohio voters that Acton won’t take voter questions, won’t debate, quit after failing as Ohio’s health director, and has some serious issues now surfaced in multiple police reports,” Ramaswamy said in a post to social media.
Acton’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital about her interaction with the interviewer last Saturday.
Having cleared the Ohio Democratic primary, Acton will face off against Ramaswamy in the state’s general election on Nov. 3.
