He had no way of knowing then, but Ohio’s Republican governor may have complicated his party's next Senate race when he selected Dr. Amy Acton as his health director.
In early 2019, Mike DeWine deliberately chose a Democrat with a background in philanthropy for a more public-facing role leading the Ohio Department of Health. What he could not have foreseen was the global pandemic that elevated her profile beyond the halls of government in Columbus and created a launchpad for a statewide political campaign.
Many top Democrats hope — and some Republicans fear — that an unconventional, first-time candidate who's also a woman can flip retiring Republican Rob Portman's U.S. Senate seat in 2022. They also look to Dr. Acton, who left her job at a philanthropic nonprofit to evaluate a run, to provide a new model for the type of Democrat able to win in a Republican-leaning state.
And while the 2020 election didn't go as Democrats had dreamed, former President Donald Trump's second win here and the election cycles that preceded it have been instructive for Ohio's next major political contest.
Mr. Trump showed that candidates who represent change from the establishment status quo can energize independents and engage new voters, like the ones who helped him run up margins in rural Ohio and uproot longstanding allegiances in places like Youngstown.
It also showed where Republicans are continuing to lose ground — among suburban women, a demographic Dr. Acton's supporters see her as uniquely capable of connecting with as the calm and compassionate leader from early coronavirus briefings.
"I think what makes her a completely unique candidate is that she already has a trusted relationship built-in with a majority of Ohioans. What makes her leadership so unique is that she actually exemplifies the strength of women's leadership because she shows how brutal honesty, vulnerability, and empathy make you tough, not weak," said Katie Paris, the founder of Red Wine and Blue, a grassroots advocacy group focused on mobilizing suburban women.
Jill Stinebaugh, chairman of the Ottawa County GOP, said Dr. Acton could give Republicans a run for their money in a swing county that stuck with Mr. Trump but where Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, Ohio's sole statewide Democrat outside of the Supreme Court, won in 2018.
"I would probably be concerned about Amy Acton if she makes it past the primary. There are a lot of independents who really like her," said Ms. Stinebaugh, who added she has strong name recognition statewide.
Dr. Acton would also enter the race with an existing base of support from an active Facebook fan page launched last year by an Upper Arlington, Ohio mother, Deborah Bosner, who said many of the group's 124,000 members appear to be suburban women who support Dr. Acton — with a few vocal detractors.
"I think it's complicated for [Dr. Acton]. A lot of people are finding their way into politics who maybe hadn’t before, and there’s always a bit of an American tendency to want to support new ideas or the person outside the system," said Ms. Bosner, the chief operating officer at an eye-care practice.
"But she's in a little bit of a challenging spot because, for as many people who appreciated all of her actions and all of her guidance at the beginning of the pandemic, she had a small but very vocal and very aggressive group of detractors," Ms. Bosner said, referring to coronavirus lockdown protesters who showed up at Dr. Acton's home.
If she runs, Dr. Acton would represent a type of political newcomer who has become formidable on either side of the aisle.
Neither Jon Ossoff, an investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker, nor Raphael Warnock, a pastor and political activist, had held elected office before winning hard-fought Senate races in Georgia that shifted partisan control of Congress. Like Ohio's John Glenn, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly was a NASA astronaut before getting into politics. Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville was a college football coach.
Dr. Acton would not be the only candidate in Ohio's Senate contest who hasn't run for statewide office. Former Ohio Republican Party chairman Jane Timken, who jumped into the race this week, hasn't either. Ohio has never elected a woman to the Senate and only one before has secured a major-party nomination.
Also considering running on the Democratic side is U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, who represents a stretch of northeast Ohio extending from Akron to Youngstown. Mr. Ryan ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and argued he could win back white, working-class voters. But he may not be the type of norm-changing candidate the Democratic base wants in 2022.
Ohio Democrats have complained the party needs a change of course from relatively staid candidates like Richard Cordray, who led the federal government's consumer watchdog agency under President Obama and was the party’s 2018 gubernatorial nominee. And as much as they aspire to replicate Mr. Brown’s statewide success, they acknowledge his brand of union-hall populism may not work for another candidate.
"[Tim Ryan] helps progressive causes and he has a connection to the Mahoning Valley that we need to win. I think he's great," said Pete Gerken, a Democratic Lucas County commissioner. "Having said that, Dr. Acton brings a fresh face, a face of courage, and she's a woman."
David B. Cohen of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron said candidates who aren't entrenched in politics before running may appeal to voters for that reason — but with the caveat that untested candidates are also wildcards.
"The issue becomes that you don't know how good of a campaigner they're going to be until they get out there," Mr. Cohen said. "You don't know how thick their skin is going to be and you don't know how they will be able to bounce back from mistakes. You don't know how effective they're going to be in putting together a campaign team and getting experienced staff to work for them. You don't know how well they're going to do in raising money."
Since stepping down as state health director in June, Dr. Acton has remained quiet about her relationship with the governor and addressing her resignation, issues she would be forced to confront on the campaign trail while competing against more seasoned candidates.
"[Mr. Ryan] has been a part of this rodeo before," Mr. Cohen said. "He's used to being under the Klieg lights and being that public figure."
Jonathan Jakubowski, the GOP chairman in Wood County, said he doesn't see Dr. Acton connecting with swing voters who tend to lean conservative but are sometimes open to splitting a ticket.
He also said the former president is still popular in the county, which could complicate a race that's shaping up to be about Trump loyalty on the Republican side.
"There's still a lot to determine and as I'm looking at it, there are still a lot of tensions within my own party that we're trying to navigate," he said.
First Published February 20, 2021, 4:59 p.m.
