Ohio Democratic governor candidate Amy Acton drew accusations of being drunk at a union picnic after a video of her speech went viral.
Acton spoke on Saturday, September 5th, at the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Central Labor Council’s Labor Day Weekend Family Picnic Basket Celebration at Stricker’s Grove in Hamilton, Ohio. Former Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was also on the program and introduced Acton to the crowd.
From the start, her delivery raised eyebrows. “It’s a little warm. Thank you. It’s a little hot. But we are absolutely sitting in that inflection point,” Acton told attendees. Viewers who later watched the clip online zeroed in on her pronunciation and pacing, with some saying she sounded impaired.
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Commentator Oli London posted a clip of the speech on X, saying Acton had been accused of “slurring her words on stage and appearing incoherent.” According to a report, the video spread quickly, with replies piling on beneath London’s post. One user wrote, “She seems a bit crazy and yells everything like she doesn’t know that the microphone is connected to the PA.” Another said, “Challenge: Play this back, close your eyes, and tell me this is not Kamala speaking.” A third comment read, “drunk don’t know, over medicated, don’t know, sounding like an idiot, for sure.”
Acton told the union crowd she was honored to be there, then leaned into her lack of political experience as part of her pitch. “Look, I’m a doctor. I am not a politician,” she said. “I’m becoming one right in front of your eyes.” She also joked about her electoral track record. “My last election was in high school. Okay, I did win, so we’re one for one in elected office. We’re on a winning streak.”
That outsider framing has become a fixture of her campaign. Acton never previously won public office before entering the 2026 governor’s race, and she ran without opposition in the Democratic primary. She now faces Republican nominee Vivek Ramaswamy, a former biotech executive and 2024 GOP presidential candidate, in the general election.
Acton is not without a public profile. She served as director of the Ohio Department of Health under Republican Governor Mike DeWine and became a prominent figure in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. She ordered closures of schools, gyms, and businesses, and in March 2020 directed polling places to shut down on public health grounds, effectively delaying Ohio’s presidential primary. She resigned from the post in June 2020 amid protests, lawsuits, and sustained opposition to the administration’s pandemic policies.
The road ahead is steep. Ohio has not elected a Democratic governor since Ted Strickland won the office in 2006.
