Ohio Democrat gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton’s campaign has been paying Ohioans for event attendance and endorsements, according to Ohio campaign finance expenditure records.
Even more disturbing, Acton’s campaign has made payments to labor union political committees around the same time some of those unions endorsed her campaign, raising serious questions about whether Acton’s support in Ohio is organic or manufactured.
Nobody should be surprised that Acton knows how to fake support. Kamala Harris, the queen of astroturfed Democrat enthusiasm, has endorsed Acton and fundraised for her.
Ohio Secretary of State campaign finance disclosure expenditure records show that on March 20, 2026, Amy Acton’s committee, Ohioans for Amy Acton and David Pepper, paid $250 for “event attendance” to the Committee for Terri Jamison. That committee is connected to Judge Terri Jamison, the incumbent elected judge of the Ohio Tenth District Court of Appeals, who is running for reelection in 2026.
Just three days later, on March 23, 2026, Amy Acton for Governor paid $420 for “event attendance” to Brit Steiner for Ohio, the campaign committee supporting Brit Steiner, a Democrat candidate for Ohio House District 49.
Records from the Ohio Democrat Party show that Ohioans for Amy Acton and David Pepper, Amy Acton for Governor, and Ohioans for Amy Acton are the same committee. Acton simply changed the name of the committee after David Pepper became her running mate.
But the potential malfeasance does not stop there.
Ohio campaign finance data also shows that Ohioans for Amy Acton paid for a “candidate endorsement,” giving $1,000 to an organization known as The Matriots in February 2026. According to The Matriots’ website, the organization endorses women regardless of political party, but it appears to be another reprehensible example of a systematic “pay for endorsements” scheme.
On February 25, 2026, the Acton-Pepper committee sent $2,500 directly to the Ohio Nurses Association PCE. On April 29, 2026, the Ohio Nurses Association officially endorsed Amy Acton, just over two months after receiving the cash.
SEIU appears to have received a similar arrangement from the Acton campaign.
On March 26, 2026, Ohioans for Amy Acton and David Pepper wired $16,615.97 to SEIU District 1199 PCE. Just 19 days later, on April 14, 2026, Acton sent another $16,615.97 to SEIU District 1199 PAC. Additional payments of $16,615.97 each were made on May 7, 2026, to both SEIU District 1199 PCE and SEIU District 1199 PAC.
SEIU District 1199 announced its endorsement of Amy Acton on April 8, 2026, with Acton’s official campaign press release dated April 9, 2026. Acton also lists SEIU 1199’s endorsement on her official campaign website.
But perhaps the most obvious example of Acton’s alleged pay-for-endorsements operation occurred on March 26, 2026. Ohio campaign finance records show the committee Ohioans for Amy Acton and David Pepper paid $16,615.67 to IBEW 683 PCE.
That same day, Amy Acton posted that she was “deeply honored” to receive the IBEW endorsement.
What a coincidence.
Acton’s committee also sent several payments to the Ohio AFL-CIO Voter Education Fund after the Ohio AFL-CIO endorsed her. Ohio campaign finance records show payments of $2,500 on February 24, 2026, $10,000 on March 17, 2026, and $4,115 on April 7, 2026.
On February 16, 2026, Cincinnati media reported that the Ohio AFL-CIO had already endorsed Acton, “rebuking Vivek Ramaswamy.”
Acton’s campaign was cutting checks to major labor-aligned political entities before, during, and after key endorsement announcements.
This is not how a candidate with real grassroots support behaves. This is how the Democrat machine manufactures momentum and influences the media narrative.
President Donald Trump won Ohio by more than 10 points twice. Democrats do not have a credible statewide base of support in the Buckeye state, and Amy Acton’s campaign knows it. That explains why Acton’s operation is relying on paid event attendance, paid “candidate endorsement” expenses, union political payments, and Kamala Harris-style astroturfing to create the illusion that Ohioans are lining up behind her campaign.
They are not. Amy Acton is not running a grassroots movement. She is running a campaign based on manufactured enthusiasm and endorsements.
Amy Acton is running a pay-to-play Democrat operation straight out of the Democrat machine’s playbook. Ohio voters deserve to know exactly who is getting paid, when they are getting paid, and what Acton’s campaign is receiving in return.
