| Pollster | Sample | Method | Margin of error |
|---|
| NYT/Siena | 717 likely voters | Not detailed in the release reviewed | ±4.4 points |
| YouGov | 2,090 likely voters | Text-to-web, voter-file sample | ±2.8 points |
| Rasmussen | 1,119 likely voters | Phone and online, Pulse Opinion Research | ±3 points |
| InsiderAdvantage | 1,200 likely voters | Text and online panel | ±2.83 points |
| Research Co. | 450 likely voters | Online, weighted by age and gender | ±4.6 points |
| Suffolk/USA TODAY | 500 likely voters | Live telephone | ±4.4 points |
| Fox News (Beacon/Shaw) | 1,592 likely voters (of 2,005 registered) | Phone and text-to-web | ±2 points |
| Marist | Likely-voter subsample of 1,176 registered voters | Phone, text and online | ±4.5 points |
","layout":"text"},{"role":"body","format":"markdown","text":"Sponsors differ. The Fox News poll is run jointly by Beacon Research, a Democratic firm, and Shaw & Company Research, a Republican firm. Suffolk polled with the USA TODAY Network Ohio. The field dates for the NYT/Siena poll are those listed by the New York Times and the poll tracker Polling Desk; Siena's own release gives the result and margin of error.\n\nA simple unweighted average of the eight results above gives Acton 50.0% and Ramaswamy 45.1%, a lead of 4.9 points. That figure is 567 Politics' own arithmetic. It mixes polls with different samples, methods and treatment of undecided voters, and it is not a forecast. Suffolk's September poll had Acton ahead 50% to 41%, and its October poll had her ahead 48% to 44%, with Kissick at 4% and 3% undecided, according to its release. That is a narrower margin than a month earlier.\n\nSome details inside the polls point in different directions.\n\n* Rasmussen found Acton ahead 54% to 36% among independents. It found women split 48% for Acton and 46% for Ramaswamy, and men favoring Ramaswamy 50% to 43%.\n* Marist found Acton leading among independents 53% to 34%, but 49% of Ohio likely voters said they expected Ramaswamy to win, against 45% who expected Acton to win.\n* YouGov's sample, which was weighted to 2024 presidential vote, had Trump voters choosing Ramaswamy 86% to 12%. Respondents who said they voted for Kamala Harris chose Acton 99% to 1%.\n* President Donald Trump's job approval among Ohio likely voters was 43% in Marist's poll and 43% in Fox's, with disapproval at 55% and 57%. YouGov found 45% approval and 54% disapproval.\n\nOn personal finances, Marist found 44% of Ohio likely voters saying their family's finances had gotten worse over the past year, while Fox found 46% saying they were worse off than two years ago. Both campaigns have built their closing arguments around living costs.\n\n## Early voting and Election Day rules\n\nEarly voting ran from Oct. 6 through Nov. 1, according to the state's [early-voting site](https://www.myohio.vote/). The [Ohio Capital Journal reported on Nov. 2](https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/11/02/ohio-voters-cast-more-than-1-7-million-ballots-early-surpassing-2022-totals/) that more than 1.7 million Ohioans had cast ballots early, about 17% more than in 2022. Almost 1.1 million voted in person and 632,254 by mail.\n\n**Ohio early ballots cast by voter party status, as of Nov. 2, 2026**\n\nApproximate figures as reported by the Ohio Capital Journal, which labeled the groups. Early ballots do not show how people voted.","textStyle":"body","layout":"text"},{"role":"htmltable","html":"| Issue | Ramaswamy (R) | Acton (D) |
|---|
| Property taxes | Reset to pre-pandemic levels, then cap growth | Larger homestead exemption and a rebate for spikes above 4% |
| Other taxes | Phase out income tax over 8 to 10 years, starting with capital gains | Working Families Tax Cut with a child tax credit, about $2 billion |
| Data centers | First-day executive order halting new approvals until legislation passes | Conditional moratorium; companies bring their own power |
| School funding | Keep Fair School Funding; support school choice, including private schools | Fully fund Fair School Funding; audit EdChoice vouchers |
| Health care | Pursue Medicaid fraud, which he estimates at $4.7 billion a year | Medical debt relief; concern about Medicaid changes |
","layout":"text"},{"role":"body","format":"markdown","text":"### Ramaswamy's plan\n\nIn an [Oct. 14 interview with ABC 6](https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/abc-6-asks-gop-gubernatorial-candidate-vivek-ramaswamy-about-taxes-data-centers-school-funding-november-2026-ohio-election), Ramaswamy described his main tax proposal this way: \"Let's reset the property taxes to where they were pre-pandemic, before the end of the pandemic, and then cap the growth from there.\" He said it can be done \"without hurting local police, fire, schools, or veteran services,\" and that \"I haven't said eliminate property taxes.\" He said the state would \"use some of our state surpluses to backstop any shortfalls\" in local budgets. He hopes homeowners feel the effect \"by this time next year.\"\n\nOn the income tax, he said reaching zero \"is going to be an eight to 10 year trajectory.\" It would start in 2027 with steps such as ending the capital gains tax. He also proposed prosecuting what he called Medicaid fraud, citing \"independent estimates\" of \"$4.7 billion a year\" and a deal with the federal government to let Ohio keep any savings. On data centers, he said his legislation would make them pay property taxes and would end abatements. It would also require \"free electricity in that neighborhood,\" clean water and use of old industrial sites, not farmland. His first executive order would halt new projects: \"Nothing new until the legislation is passed.\"\n\nHe said he supports the Fair School Funding formula and school choice, including \"a school outside of our public school system,\" and wants to raise average starting teacher pay above about $38,000. In a Sept. 21 interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation he said of Acton, \"If my opponent's elected, it's a disaster. Property taxes will double, income taxes will double.\" He also described her handling of the pandemic as a shutdown \"with an ideological objective.\" Acton defended that record in her interview, and the foundation noted that DeWine has said the pandemic orders were ultimately his decision.\n\nOhio voted for Trump by 11 points in 2024, according to the Daily Caller News Foundation. Ramaswamy is endorsed by Trump and Vice President [JD Vance](https://567politics.com/politicians/jd-vance), according to the [Christian Science Monitor](https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2026/0924/vivek-ramaswamy-ohio-governor-heritage-americans). His running mate is state Senate President Rob McColley, according to [NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/vivek-ramaswamys-campaign-ohio-governor-returned-real-world-rcna253231).\n\n### Acton's plan\n\nIn an [Oct. 20 interview with ABC 6](https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/abc-6-asks-democratic-gubernatorial-candidate-amy-acton-about-property-taxes-data-centers-school-funding-2026-ohio-november-election), Acton described her first priority as a \"Working Families Tax Cut, instead of a tax break for people like my opponent and his friends,\" including a child tax credit. She said it would cost \"in the $2 billion dollar range, but plus or minus.\" On property taxes, she said \"a homestead exemption\" and \"a property tax spike rebate\" for households whose property values rose more than 4% could begin immediately. She said she would not do \"what my opponent's calling for, like eliminating all property taxes, which even Governor DeWine has said we don't need.\"\n\nRamaswamy says he has not proposed eliminating property taxes, as the quotation above shows. An Acton campaign statement from February cited DeWine telling Cleveland.com that abolishing property taxes \"would be absolutely devastating.\" It also quoted him saying \"Sales tax could go up to 17, 18, 19, 20%.\" 567 Politics did not open the original Cleveland.com article. The Acton campaign says Ramaswamy later moved from that position to a rollback and growth cap; Ramaswamy's interview describes the rollback and cap as his plan.\n\nActon said she would \"fully fund\" the bipartisan school funding formula and begin with an audit of EdChoice vouchers, which she described as \"an out-of-control, unaccountable voucher system.\" On data centers she said she supports \"guardrails\" and has asked for a \"conditional moratorium,\" and that data-center companies must \"bring their own energy.\" She also proposed medical debt relief and called for a \"hot wash,\" or after-action review, of Ohio's pandemic response, which she defended: \"I thought Ohio was heroic.\"\n\nSignal Ohio's comparison reported that Innovation Ohio, a liberal group, estimates Ramaswamy's rollback would cost about $4 billion a year. Much of that would come from local K-12 schools. Signal also reported that both candidates backed a gas tax holiday of roughly $725 million. The ABC 6 interviewer said Acton's expansion of the homestead exemption would make another 55,000 homeowners eligible, for a total of roughly 755,000. Signal Ohio described her spike rebate as limited to households making less than $132,000. The cost estimates cited here come from the campaigns and from an advocacy group; 567 Politics did not find an independent estimate for either plan.\n\nBoth candidates have also traded personal attacks. Ramaswamy said Acton's \"only qualification for this job is a short-lived stint as health director, and when times got tough, she quit,\" and that she refuses to debate. Acton said she would not debate because debates are \"for civic dialog,\" and called Ramaswamy \"a serial liar.\" Ramaswamy said CNN and NBC offered debates and that he accepted. The ad dispute and the polling reaction are covered in the [earlier 567 Politics story](https://567politics.com/news/ohio-governor-ramaswamy-pulls-acton-mother-ad-polls-october-2026).\n\n## Money in the race\n\nOhio candidates file with the Ohio Secretary of State, not the Federal Election Commission. 567 Politics used the [Ohio Capital Journal's Oct. 28 analysis of the last pre-general state reports](https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/10/28/final-ohio-campaign-finance-report-shows-acton-raising-more-spending-less-than-ramaswamy/) and did not retrieve the filings. The newspaper noted a reporting quirk. Campaigns report fundraising monthly over the summer, but not spending. The final report therefore shows about two weeks of fundraising and more than four months of spending. The raised and spent figures below do not cover the same period.","textStyle":"body","layout":"text"},{"role":"htmltable","html":"