Where the candidates stand, issue by issue.
Issues below are taken from each race's Republican candidate's own campaign site. Each candidate's position — including the Democratic candidate's — is drawn from that candidate's own campaign site; a dash means the site did not address it.
| Issue | Vivek Ramaswamy (R) | Amy Acton (D) |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes | Wants to cut property taxes right away and phase out Ohio's income tax, starting with eliminating the capital-gains tax. | Says her top priority is a tax cut for working families: an earned-income credit plus new child tax credits. |
| Energy costs & business climate | Would expand natural gas and new energy technology, streamline permitting, and cut regulations to lower electric bills and draw industry. | Would lower bills by adding low-cost, clean power and naming utility regulators who favor ratepayers over utility companies. |
| Education | Would raise academic standards, expand parental choice in schooling, pay top teachers more, and grow career-technical education. | Would restore public school funding to the state's constitutional level and keep public funding for public schools only. |
| Crime & public safety | Would toughen bail and sentencing for repeat violent offenders and back police to act quickly against crime. | Would fully fund police and first responders and invest in mental-health and addiction treatment alongside law enforcement. |
| Political tone (“One Ohio”) | Frames his campaign as restoring respectful political discourse and uniting Ohioans around shared, common-sense values over partisan division. | Not addressed on campaign site. |
| Data centers | Pledges free electricity for residents near data centers, mandatory full tax payment plus homeowner rebates, and strict environmental rules. | Would require data centers to cover 100% of their own utility costs, use union labor, and meet strict environmental/transparency rules. |
Sources: Ramaswamy (R) · Acton (D)
| Issue | Jon Husted (R) | Sherrod Brown (D) |
|---|---|---|
| Jobs & economic development | Points to helping land Ohio's largest-ever economic development deal (Intel's chip plant) and creating job-training programs like TechCred. | Site criticizes past corporate tax breaks and trade deals for having shipped Ohio jobs overseas, without naming a current jobs plan. |
| Taxes & government efficiency | Says he founded InnovateOhio to cut government waste, and backed what was at the time the state's largest income-tax cut. | Not addressed on campaign site. |
| Life / values | Describes himself as a lifelong "champion for life," a stance he connects to his own adoption out of foster care. | Not addressed on campaign site. |
| Law enforcement & public safety | Says he backs police and helped secure millions of dollars in funding for law-enforcement agencies. | Not addressed on campaign site. |
Sources: Husted (R) · Brown (D)