Amy Acton cried on the job, once found ‘curled up’ on floor before COVID meeting during tenure as Ohio health official: Staffers

Published September 9, 2026 5:22pm ET | Updated September 9, 2026 5:22pm ET



Dr. Amy Acton, the Democratic nominee for Ohio governor, was emotionally volatile and sometimes absent at daily strategizing sessions during the pandemic while serving as the state’s top health official responsible for leading Ohio’s COVID-19 response, according to sources who worked with her in the state government.

In interviews with the Washington Examiner, five current and former state government workers, including staffers from the Ohio Health Department, governor’s office, and a career civil servant, described Acton’s conduct in the workplace as erratic and said she was prone to emotional episodes, to the point that she was once allegedly found “curled up” into a ball on the floor before one of the emergency response meetings and seen crying in the bathroom in another incident described by someone who worked with her.

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