Former Ohio Health Director Amy Acton, who became a household name in the state in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, is running for governor. Acton, 58, a physician and public health expert who stood alongside Republican Gov. Mike DeWine for months during his daily coronavirus briefings, said people still stop her in the grocery store or at a restaurant to share their struggles 바카라 게임 웹사이트� and she doesn't want to look away. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�I feel like I have a bond with Ohioans and a connection,바카라 게임 웹사이트� she said in an Associated Press interview. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�You don바카라 게임 웹사이트�t go through what we바카라 게임 웹사이트�ve been through ... and not have some special connection.바카라 게임 웹사이트�Acton filed paperwork and launched her campaign Tuesday. She plans to run as a Democrat, which places her at an immediate disadvantage in a state that has turned solidly red in recent years. While she has said before that serving in DeWine바카라 게임 웹사이트�s cabinet taught her much about how the office operates, on Tuesday she said she believes that Ohio's Republican leaders 바카라 게임 웹사이트� who control all three branches of state government 바카라 게임 웹사이트� are spending too much time fighting the culture wars and they're taking the state in the wrong direction. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�It바카라 게임 웹사이트�s not OK with me that Ohioans don바카라 게임 웹사이트�t live as long as people do in other states," she said. "It바카라 게임 웹사이트�s not OK with me to watch what used to be a top education system, state-of-the-art education system, begin to fall year after year after year. It바카라 게임 웹사이트�s not OK with me that our GDP is like 45th and our biggest export is Ohioans, is young people.바카라 게임 웹사이트�Acton's entry into the race comes as Republicans Lt. Gov. Jon Husted and Attorney General Dave Yost already are positioning to run for the seat, which the 78-year-old DeWine must vacate next year due to term limits. But the landscape of the race is far from settled. DeWine has yet to appoint a replacement to U.S. Sen. JD Vance, who will be inaugurated as Donald Trump's vice president Jan. 20. Though DeWine has long endorsed Husted as his favored successor, the lieutenant governor is now considered a leading contender as his pick for the Senate. That's after Husted and DeWine met with Trump and Vance last month at Mar-a-Lago, a trip first reported by WEWS-TV.Giving Husted the job would create a political opening for Trump insider Vivek Ramaswamy to possibly make a gubernatorial run against Yost in the 2026 primary. Ramaswamy has said he would not seek the Senate opening 바카라 게임 웹사이트� Ohio's third in as many years 바카라 게임 웹사이트� right now, because he's busy heading Trump's Department of Government Efficiency effort with Elon Musk. DOGE is not an actual government department, but a private effort.DeWine plucked Acton from Ohio State University, where she was an associate professor of public health, to lead the Ohio Department of Health in 2019. As the pandemic ramped up in early 2020, she was thrown into the state and national spotlight 바카라 게임 웹사이트� becoming a beloved source of comfort to many viewers of the governor's daily news conferences.For her service as health director, Acton earned the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation바카라 게임 웹사이트�s Profile in COVID Courage Award, the Columbus Foundation바카라 게임 웹사이트�s Spirit of Columbus Award and Ohio State바카라 게임 웹사이트�s highest alumni honor, the Alumni Medalist Award.But her position as the face of the DeWine administration's aggressive stance against the virus also earned Acton many enemies, among them Statehouse Republicans and average Ohioans who opposed pandemic restrictions.During the crisis, Acton used the health director's broad emergency powers to halt the state's 2020 presidential primary, to temporarily close gyms and fitness centers around the state, and to impose stay-at-home orders as the administration tried to prevent COVID바카라 게임 웹사이트�s spread. Husted also took part in the administration's COVID response, but not to the extent that Acton did.After a grueling period of public exposure, angry demonstrations, lawsuits and personal attacks, Acton resigned her state job in June 2020. DeWine sent her off fondly, describing her as a hero in a white coat. She stayed on as his chief health adviser until that August.She said Tuesday that she recognizes she has not held elective office, but she feels she has the skills necessary to do the job.바카라 게임 웹사이트�We know that I바카라 게임 웹사이트�m a doctor. I바카라 게임 웹사이트�m not a politician,바카라 게임 웹사이트� she said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�But I am a leader, and I tend to think of myself as more of a public servant and a problem solver.바카라 게임 웹사이트� After leaving government, Acton joined the Columbus Foundation as a grants director with the title 바카라 게임 웹사이트�vice president for Human:Kind.바카라 게임 웹사이트� She left that post after about six months to explore a run for U.S. Senate, ultimately deciding against joining the 2022 contest won by Vance. She later took on a job as director of the city of Columbus' Project L.O.V.E., an initiative aimed at encouraging early vaccinations in children.Acton said she has spent all that time supporting candidates and causes that she believes in and carefully considering whether to enter politics. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�My challenge to whoever else wants to run in this race is it's time to put something bigger than ourselves at the top here,바카라 게임 웹사이트� she said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�So many of us have values in Ohio that we all hold dear. We have got to put the real problems, the day-to-day problems we all face on the table and put that first.바카라 게임 웹사이트�