Vivek Ramaswamy’s attempt to concede the Ohio governor’s race to Amy Acton apparently ended where many left-leaning locals expected: her voicemail.
As reported by Newsweek, Ramaswamy revealed Tuesday night that he tried to call Acton after losing the closely watched race, but left a message instead.
“We left her a message,” Ramaswamy said while conceding, describing the result as “a tough night for us here in Ohio.”
Acton defeated the Republican former presidential contender after a campaign that had turned increasingly bitter, including a Ramaswamy advertisement featuring Acton’s estranged mother questioning her account of her childhood.
The ad drew bipartisan condemnation and became a major point of anger among Acton supporters. And that anger was still very much alive over on Reddit’s left-leaning Ohio forum after the result.
One commenter summed up what became the overarching theme of the thread: “As it should. What he did to her was unforgivable.”
Another wrote that Ramaswamy had “crossed a line,” while others mocked the unanswered concession call and expressed hope that his defeat would mark the end of his political relevance.
Ohio Liberals Not Interested in Forgiveness
Unsurprisingly, the Reddit discussion was overwhelmingly hostile toward Ramaswamy, with commenters repeatedly returning to the campaign ad and rejecting his suggestion that the contest had been “bitter at times in both directions.”
One user sarcastically responded: “But but but, it was a bitter campaign from both sides!!1!”
Others argued that Ramaswamy’s tactics went beyond normal political mudslinging. Several commenters specifically pointed to the decision to involve Acton’s estranged mother, with one saying the advertisement was an “extremely low blow.”
There was also broader hostility toward Republicans throughout the thread. One commenter joked that any Republican phone number might look like a scam call, while another urged Ohioans to let Republican calls go straight to voicemail.
That sentiment reflects the unmistakably left-leaning character of the discussion, rather than a scientific measurement of Ohio voters. But within that community, the message was clear: many did not simply want Ramaswamy defeated. They wanted him gone from politics.
Acton’s victory is historic. She becomes Ohio’s first elected female governor and the first Democrat to win the office since Ted Strickland in 2006.
For Ramaswamy, meanwhile, the voicemail may prove to be the least painful part of election night. The bigger question is whether a campaign some Ohioans viewed as needlessly cruel has damaged his political future well beyond one lost race.
