The race begins in a deeply low‑information environment

• Across all sources, voters are entering the 2026 governor’s race with limited awareness and few strongly held views.

  • In the AUS ballot test, Ramaswamy leads 35%–31%, with 25% undecided and 10% unlikely to vote.

  • Ramaswamy is slightly better known than Acton, but that awareness is shallow and largely identity-based; Acton’s lower recognition more often reflects simple unfamiliarity.

  • Strong opinions are relatively rare and are concentrated among the most politically engaged voters; low- and moderate-engagement voters are far more likely to express uncertainty or weakly held views.

  Awareness takes different forms for each candidate

  The research shows that “low awareness” does not mean the same thing for both candidates. In practice, Acton is already defined in voters’ minds, but narrowly, while Ramaswamy remains largely undefined despite slightly higher name recognition.

  Vivek Ramaswamy

  • Slightly higher name recognition than Acton, but minimal substantive definition.

  • Awareness is driven primarily by identity cues (Trump/MAGA alignment, ideology, wealth), not by his policy positions or track record.

  • For Ramaswamy, these associations function as placeholders rather than a coherent narrative.

  • Online critiques of his business background, investments, pharmaceutical failures or views on immigration and the workforce have not penetrated the broader electorate.

  • Voters still lack the context needed to meaningfully evaluate detailed critiques of Ramaswamy’s record.

  Amy Acton

  • Acton has lower overall recognition than Ramaswamy, but more consistently framed once voters recognize her, almost entirely through COVID.

  • Voter impressions of Acton are more coherent but narrowly anchored, with COVID serving as the primary organizing narrative. This coherence creates clarity, but also constrains how voters evaluate her in the absence of additional context.

  • Independents are genuinely split in their impressions, reflecting mixed reactions to pandemic-era leadership.

  Biography matters. But only when voters are given it

  The OFT/Hart poll provides an important contrast to the AUS findings:

  • Among likely voters, Acton’s baseline favorability is modest, but her appeal increases substantially once voters hear a short biography.

  The AUS we conducted clarifies why this distinction matters: voters do not spontaneously recall biography or policy for either candidate. In the absence of supplied context, they default to the most available frame (COVID for Acton; MAGA/Trump and personal wealth for Ramaswamy).

  Online discourse does not reflect voter‑level salience

  Online pulse checks identify intense discussion and critique, particularly of Ramaswamy, around his business ethics, immigration policies and appeal to an Ohio electorate. The AUS demonstrates that these narratives remain largely confined to highly engaged or ideological subcultures.

  For typical voters, these themes have not yet broken through. This reinforces the importance of distinguishing between what is loud online and what is salient to voters when interpreting early signals.