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Tuesday truly was a historic night as Amy and I became the official Democratic nominees for Governor and Lt. Governor of Ohio.

But it wasn’t just that it happened. It’s how it happened. Here are some eye-popping numbers showing how much energy there is building in Ohio to elect Amy governor:

Even without a contested primary, the Ohio primary saw the highest midterm Ohio Democratic primary turnout since 2006;

Despite spending $20M+, turnout slumped for Vivek Ramaswamy versus recent GOP primaries;

Perhaps most dramatic: with 762,457 votes, Amy earned more votes in a Democratic primary than any Ohio Democratic Governor candidate—incumbent or not, contested or uncontested—on record.

Here’s an analysis from conservative Ohio commentator Matt Mayer:

“On Tuesday, top Democrats improved on [their 2022] number by 250,000 votes while Republicans declined by roughly 250,000. That is a 500,000 vote swing that can’t be ignored. Given his massive money advantage and his Trump endorsement, Ramaswamy’s crushing victory over Casey Putsch was a foregone conclusion. The only thing I cared about was his and the Republican vote totals. Ramaswamy secured 673,902 votes to Acton’s 762,457 votes. The fact that (a) Acton outvoted Ramaswamy and that (b) Putsch, who lacked any money to get out his message, pulled in nearly 18% of the vote should concern you. Both results show a lack of Republican excitement in Ramaswamy.”

To see the highlights of Amy’s acceptance speech Tuesday night, click HERE.

And to watch her primary night appearance with Jen Psaki on MS NOW, click below:

CONTRIBUTE: And to add to our momentum by contributing to the campaign, you can do so here:

Donate HERE

Thank you again, and on to November!

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Paid for by Ohioans for Amy Acton and David Pepper

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Which means most Ohioans are asking themselves: which Ohio school(s) do I cheer for?

But Vivek Ramaswamy is publicly asking a different question: which Ohio schools do I eliminate?

Think I’m joking?

Here’s the backstory:

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The other day, a video emerged where Ramaswamy was asked about how he would pay for his plan to get rid of Ohio’s income tax. It’s a good question, since a recent study found that his plan would lead to devastating cuts and higher costs for millions of Ohioans: “It would cut schools, health care, and other essential programs while giving a huge tax break to the wealthy. And just to make matters worse, it would likely lead to big tax increases for most Ohioans.”

But Ramaswamy had a quick and oh-so-simple answer to the question: target Ohio’s colleges and universities. WATCH:

His team was so proud of his answer that they posted it publicly.

Now, as you’d expect, this announcement invited a fast response from across Ohio, and it wasn’t pretty:

Here’s an op-ed that ran in the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Columnist Howard Wilkinson summarized: “That statement pricked up the ears of state university administrators from Ashtabula to Cincinnati and everywhere in between, puzzled by how eliminating state universities — which are not only educational assets but economic drivers in nearly every part of the state — would be a wise decision.”

The Youngstown Vindicator’s David Skolnick called it “unexpected” and a “curious response.”

With four Ohio schools (two from the MAC) and six teams in the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments, even the sports world weighed in:

Of course, the first objection was to Ramaswamy’s statement that we have “too many” colleges and universities and must consolidate them—begging the question, which ones would he eliminate first? Which communities would he rip schools away from? (These schools serve as both economic anchors as well as sources of opportunity and workforce development for entire regions and their residents). And which schools would he combine?

His plan would wreak havoc in a variety of ways: “Ohio’s regional universities − from Youngstown State to the University of Cincinnati − are…economic anchors for communities that depend on them, pathways for first-generation students who can’t afford to leave home, and employers in regions that can’t absorb the loss.”

Skolnick: “To consolidate public universities would likely result in a number of people not pursuing a higher education degree who want to obtain one.

Perhaps the state could close branch campuses such as Kent State at Trumbull, but that would limit the choices of those students.”

Second came the objection to his uninformed assumption that Ohio’s colleges and universities—from Akron to University of Cincinnati to Shawnee State to Wright State—are somehow “clones” of one another.

Now that is a surefire way to make clear you don’t know Ohio very well. Back to Wilkinson, who knows Ohio as well as anyone: “As far as his contention that Ohio universities have created “clones of one another throughout the state,” anyone who has been to both Bowling Green State University and Ohio University knows those schools are as different as night and day.”

Finally, as a matter of paying for eliminating the state income tax, his college plan doesn’t add up. Not even close.

The loss of state revenue by eliminating the state income tax would be close to $10B.

But the entire university and college spend in the state budget is only $3B. (On a per-pupil basis, Ohio considerably lags the nation—red states and blue alike—in its support of higher ed, leaving Ohio families to pick up the bill through tuition).

So even Vivek’s math doesn’t work: he could wipe out a bunch of the schools he is publicly targeting—cause all that pain and economic loss to communities across a state that already underfunds education—and it would still amount to just a sliver of the cuts needed to pay for his income tax elimination plan.

As one observer noted: “Ramaswamy’s proposals make no sense as Ohio governance. They make perfect sense as national positioning.”

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This painting is from a photo I took in Hueston Woods, one of Ohio’s great state parks.

Be sure to visit them.

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But this week, an Ohio court stopped him, finding that grabbing our unclaimed, private dollars to hand to a big donor, without any due process, likely violated the Constitution. I explain the basics above.

This is just another example of how politicians like Rob McColley and Vivek Ramaswamy put special interests over working Ohioans every single day, leaving hardworking Ohioans to foot the bill.

Bottom line: we cannot afford to let these guys run Ohio any longer. It’s time to put working families first.

For more details on the decision, go HERE.

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Here’s the full article in the Youngstown Vindicator!

Read some highlights below:

YOUNGSTOWN — David Pepper, the Democratic lieutenant governor nominee, criticized Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican gubernatorial frontrunner, for calling Medicare and Medicaid a mistake.

“We need to be finding solutions to these issues, and any governor who believes that Medicaid and Medicare are mistakes is obviously very dangerous to the health care of millions of Ohioans,” Pepper said during a Monday news conference at the Mahoning County Democratic Party headquarters.

Pepper added, “This isn’t a surprise coming from Vivek Ramaswamy. There are a lot of ways in which he appears consistently out of touch with the needs of everyday Ohioans. But it’s still something that we should all be paying attention to because of how important Medicaid and Medicare are to Ohioans and because the costs that are now being imposed on Ohioans are already too high.”

Pepper is the running mate of Dr. Amy Acton, the only Democrat gubernatorial candidate and the state’s health director during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ramaswamy faces two Republicans in his party’s governor race.

During an October 2024 appearance on the Ezra Klein podcast, before he was a governor candidate, Ramaswamy was asked if Medicare and Medicaid were mistakes.

Ramaswamy responded, “I believe they were with the benefit of retrospect, particularly Medicaid, particularly the welfare state without work attachments required.”

Pepper said more than 2.5 million Ohioans rely on Medicare for their health care, and more than 3 million depend on Medicaid for it.

Pepper said, “You rip away Medicaid and Medicare, not only do you rip away the final lifeline for many Ohioans, but as Dr. Acton says all the time, everyone else’s costs go up as well. When you have to start paying for those health procedures and health care in other ways, we all pay more.”

Pepper added about Ramaswamy, “In a time when costs are too high, the real mistake would be electing someone to the governor’s office who has such disdain for those programs that are so important for Ohioans.”

If Acton is elected, Pepper said she would look at ways to relieve medical debt, push to reduce the cost of prescription drugs, require transparency in health care costs and “shore up Medicaid as it’s being attacked.”

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If you have time to watch it all, you’ll enjoy it.

And here are some clips from the conversation:

1. Dr. Acton’s unique form of leadership: “factuality — begin with the facts, respecting the truth”:

2. “Ohio itself deserves to do better than we’ve been doing…a great state is suffering under broken and corrupt government”

3. Among many problems in Ohio is the non-stop attack on public education, including the undermining of rural schools:

4. The Vivek story: “they sent him off to destroy Ohio,” Medicaid was a “mistake,” and the contrast to Amy Acton

5. Why Ramaswamy would be such a bad fit for Ohio, at this moment of struggle: “on every single issue which matters, like healthcare, education he is all for taking eveything which should be a public good and turning it into something scammable”

6. The contrast between the two tickets:

7. And finally, the energy and hope we are feeling out on the trail:

Folks, this is a real race. We have real momentum. To help us succeed, please consider supporting the campaign HERE.

Thank you , , , , , and many others for tuning into my live video with ! Join me for my next live video in the app.

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Alana took an Uber last week, and the driver—overhearing her last name—asked if she was related to David Pepper.

She said yes, and the driver then told her a story about once driving my mom home. Which is the only reason he even knew who I was.

At first, my mom was on the phone and said: “my uber driver is really quiet.” (My mom loved talking to people—when we were kids, she’d spend entire airplane flights talking to fellow passengers, usually telling them about us).

When she hung up the phone, the driver offered to talk, then asked what she wanted to talk about.

She said: “what about politics?”

He responded: “oh, I don’t talk politics.”

My mom, as always, persisted, and they had a long talk about politics all the way home. When they reached my mom’s house, they talked for another 30 minutes in the driveway…about politics, family, other things.

At some point, she headed inside and he drove down the street. But as he got to the street’s end, his phone rang.

It was my mom. He assumed something was wrong.

“Come back to the house.”

Worried, he asked if she was ok.

“I just want to give you something,” she said.

So he drove back up the street. My mom came out the back door with one of my books in her hand.

“This is my son David’s book on politics. You have to read it.”

He drove away.

And yes, he read the book….

And that was Francie Pepper:

Didn’t know a stranger.

Always a passionate political advocate.

And a proud mom.

Speaking of my mom, she was well through writing a memoir about her adventures traveling the world when she passed away last March. My dad has worked hard since to get her words and many stories published, and we received the final version last week.

One line in it I love involves a drive north to our cottage in Canada (my mom was a road warrior) where storms forced her to sleep at a rest stop: “A week before I was all dressed up and having dinner at the White House, and now here I am, sleeping in my car with the dogs.” (Our two golden retrievers).

The book will soon be available online.

Have a great Saturday!

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On countless issues.

But never has it been more clear than on health care.

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Everywhere Amy Acton and I travel, we hear about the escalating costs of health care. Heartbreaking personal and family stories from rural to urban Ohio.

As the Capital Journal story summarized from a press conference we held this week on rising health costs:

“Housing, child care, electric bills, and property taxes — Acton has heard voters complain about all of them.

“But the number one thing I am hearing about, and data is now showing this, it’s the rising cost of health care that is really putting people over the edge,” she said.

This week, we laid key parts of our agenda to address those rising costs…

• relieving the medical debt that holds so many Ohio families back, and too often leads to crushing bankruptcies

• cracking down on surprising medical billing and aggressive collections practices

• using multiple levers of the state to reduce drug prices and premiums

• add greater transparency in medical and insurance pricing

While we laid out and will be pursuing these and other steps, the contrast with Vivek Ramaswamy only became more clear in recent weeks. He considers Medicare and Medicaid “mistakes,” with the clear aim of dismantling them.

Amy explained the risks of those ideas in an op-ed the other day:

“As a doctor, I have to ask: Are the 4 in 10 babies born in Ohio under Medicaid coverage a mistake? The 60% of seniors using Medicaid to fund their nursing home stays? What about the more than 55,000 veterans in Ohio who rely on Medicaid?

Vivek’s opinion that these programs are mistakes isn’t just the thoughts of an out-of-touch billionaire; it’s a dangerous look into how he would raise the cost of healthcare in Ohio.

Medicaid and Medicare are lifelines for Ohioans across our state. These critical programs cover our kids, new mothers, veterans and seniors. 25% of Ohioans rely on Medicaid, and another 2.5 million rely on Medicare for care.

It covers the 40% of Ohioans on Medicaid who have a mental health diagnosis or deal with addiction, ensuring that they can get the treatment they need and get back to their families. Eliminating Medicaid would undermine the years of progress we’ve made in the fight to address our state’s opioid crisis.

It doesn’t just hurt the individuals navigating addiction; one in four children in our state lives with a parent with a substance use disorder.

For rural hospitals, Medicaid is the difference between staying open and being forced to close their doors. Rural hospitals are major employers, support local business, attract talent and support the tax base for services like our schools and police. The recent federal healthcare cuts have already put 11 of Ohio’s rural hospitals at risk of closure….

We had the second-highest drop in Affordable Care Act enrollment this year because federal subsidies were allowed to expire.

Almost 19% of Ohioans with ACA coverage have already dropped their insurance because their premiums are skyrocketing. One woman, a former healthcare worker, told me that her premium tripled. Her deductible went from $500 to $7,000 this year.”

And as Amy pointed out, this is not a partisan position:

“This isn’t about party or politics; Gov. John Kasich expanded Medicaid because it was the smart thing to do. This is about extreme wealth, power and ideology against the rest of us. We cannot allow an out of touch billionaire to destroy our rural hospitals, strip health coverage from our most vulnerable, and take our state backwards.

When it comes to Medicaid and Medicare, the real mistake would be giving control over such critical lifelines to someone so out of touch with the lives of everyday Ohioans. It’s time to build an Ohio where everyone has the opportunity to reach our full potential.”

For more details on what we laid out, read more here.

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Drove to and from Jefferson County yesterday. Cold, yes, but beautiful winter scenes all across rural Ohio.

This is a farm in Adams County I painted several years ago just as a snowy winter began to warm up.

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