Acton, Brown and John Legend Make Final Dayton Push Before Nov. 3
Hundreds packed the Brightside Monday night as the Democratic candidates for governor and U.S. Senate pitched lower costs; the Husted campaign answered that Brown had failed Ohioans.
Democratic governor candidate Dr. Amy Acton and U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown held one of their last Dayton rallies of the campaign Monday night, Oct. 26, at the Brightside music and event venue near downtown, with singer-songwriter John Legend, a Springfield native, as a special guest, the Dayton Daily News reported. The paper described a packed ballroom with hundreds of people; it gave no exact count.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
What the candidates said
Acton promised to cut costs. "Ohio, this is my promise: We, together, are going to make it all cost less," she said, according to the Daily News. She called her Republican opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy, "a danger to my state" and addressed a Ramaswamy campaign ad featuring her estranged mother, calling the ad a desperate attempt to save a struggling campaign, the paper reported. Dayton 24/7 Now reported that Acton told the crowd, "Hope is what got me through sexual abuse and got me through cold nights."
Brown, who is challenging Republican Sen. Jon Husted, said, "They know the system is rigged more than ever and corruption is woven into everything," according to the Daily News. He said Husted works for corporations and billionaires, and he said outside groups supporting Husted have spent $300 million on the race, the paper reported. Dayton 24/7 Now reported that Brown also blamed an official he didn't name for bringing 226 data centers to Ohio communities with $2.5 billion in tax dollars. Those are Brown's claims; the reports did not independently verify them.
Legend, who spoke but did not perform, urged people to vote. "We need leaders who will go to work thinking about you, thinking about all Ohioans," he said, according to the Daily News. Dayton 24/7 Now reported that Legend visited several area small businesses during the day.
State Rep. Desiree Tims, congressional candidate Kristina Knickerbocker and attorney general candidate John Kulewicz also spoke, Dayton 24/7 Now reported.
The other side
Husted campaign spokeswoman Amy Natoce told the Daily News that Brown "spent 50 years in office and failed hardworking Ohioans," that Husted has been "creating jobs and lowering taxes," and that voters would "retire him for good on Nov. 3." The Ramaswamy campaign did not immediately return the paper's request for comment.
Where the races stand
The Daily News reported that a mid-October Marist poll of likely voters had Acton ahead of Ramaswamy by 7 points and Brown ahead of Husted by 4, and a Fox News poll had Acton up 2; both were taken before the Ramaswamy ad circulated. The Cook Political Report moved the governor's race from "toss up" to "lean Democrat" after the backlash to the ad, the paper reported. Donald Trump carried Ohio by 11 points in 2024, the paper noted.
Acton and Brown planned stops in Youngstown, Cincinnati (Wednesday), Toledo (Thursday), Cleveland (Sunday) and Columbus (Monday), Dayton 24/7 Now reported.