COLUMBUS, OHIO — As Amy Acton campaigns for Governor of Ohio, a new website — doctorlockdown.com, paid for by Vivek Ramaswamy and Rob McColley for Ohio — is making sure Ohioans don’t forget what she did to them. The record is documented in full there. The summary is damning.
Dishonest: She Made Up the Data
In March 2020, with just five confirmed COVID cases in all of Ohio, Acton told the public that 100,000 Ohioans were already infected — using that number to justify shutting down businesses and closing schools. When pressed, she admitted she had no data to support the claim, saying she was simply “guesstimating.” One million jobs were lost as a result of her claims and orders. (The Hill, 3/13/20; Fox News, 3/12/20)
As nursing home deaths mounted, Acton refused to release data on how many Ohioans were dying in long-term care facilities, citing public records laws and instructing county agencies to do the same. Families locked out of nursing homes were also denied basic information about the loved ones inside. (WCBE 90.5 FM; News 5 Cleveland, 2020)
When her lockdown orders were legally challenged, Acton failed to provide any statutory authority for the closures. A Lake County judge found her department’s actions lacked procedural safeguards or legal basis. (Lake County Court of Common Pleas, May 2020) Now running for Governor, Acton has refused to answer questions about those orders; her campaign did not respond to press inquiries. (Ohio.news, 2025)
Reckless: She Violated Rights and Hurt Ohio Families
Lake County Court of Common Pleas Judge Eugene Lucci ruled that Acton “acted in an impermissibly arbitrary, unreasonable, and oppressive manner” and that her orders violated the Ohio Constitution — orders she issued with no statutory authority to back them up. A second Ohio judge also struck down her lockdown orders as illegal, finding they exceeded the legal authority of the state health director. (Judge Eugene Lucci, May 2020; Reason.com, 5/20/20; Reason.com, 6/12/20)
Acton signed the order banning Ohio families from visiting loved ones in nursing homes. While that ban was in effect, over 70% of Ohio’s COVID-19 deaths occurred inside nursing homes. Under her leadership, Ohio had the highest elderly death rate in the entire Midwest. (CDC National Center for Health Statistics, 2023; WKYC 3News Investigates, 2020; ABC6 On Your Side, 2020)
Under Acton’s direction, Ohio became the first state in the nation to close its public schools in March 2020. Studies found those closures caused significant harm to children’s mental health — including elevated rates of anxiety, depression, and lasting learning loss. (JAMA Network Open, 2021; Daily Caller, 7/3/25)
Unfit: She Quit — Now She Wants a Promotion
In June 2020, with courts striking down her orders and legislators demanding accountability, Acton resigned as Ohio Health Director. She did not stay to fix the damage she had caused. (ABC News, 6/11/20) She later admitted she quit over the reopening of Ohio’s county fairs she had shut down, calling being asked to allow them “the final straw.” (NBC 4, 1/30/2025) Her record prompted a sitting Ohio Republican lawmaker to introduce legislation specifically limiting the health director’s authority. (NBC News, 2020)
She guessed at the data. She issued unconstitutional orders. She banned families from nursing homes while the elderly died inside. She closed Ohio’s schools. And when accountability came, she walked out. She couldn’t handle Health Director — Ohio can’t afford to find out what she’d do as Governor.
The full case against Amy Acton’s record is documented at doctorlockdown.com, paid for by Vivek Ramaswamy and Rob McColley for Ohio.
