With Democrat Tim Ryan on a self-imposed Sept. 30 deadline to decide if he’s going to run for governor, Amy Acton, the lone declared Democrat for the position, is rolling out endorsements.

The endorsements, including some locally, likely won’t impact Ryan’s decision. But it’s an effort to show Acton has support and isn’t going anywhere, even if the former 20-year congressman, who used to represent the Mahoning Valley in the U.S. House, enters the gubernatorial race.

It’s no coincidence that the endorsements started coming out right after it was initially reported Aug. 12 that Democrat Sherrod Brown, a former 18-year U.S. senator, planned to run for a seat in the upper chamber. Brown made it official with an Aug. 18 announcement.

Right after the initial reports of Brown running for the Senate, Dennis Willard, Ryan’s spokesman, put out a statement that Brown’s decision “has renewed and heightened Tim Ryan’s interest in running for governor to further serve the people of Ohio.”

Ryan had said as far back as December that he had an interest in being governor. But with Brown, the most recognizable Ohio Democrat, giving serious consideration to running for governor — his other options were Senate or nothing — Ryan had largely abandoned the idea.

When Brown chose to run for senator, Ryan quickly put himself back into contention for governor.

Brown and Ryan worked together when they served in Congress.

But there’s been some issues between the two of them dating back to 2006.

Brown had initially chosen in 2006 to not run for the Senate, resulting in Paul Hackett of suburban Cincinnati, who nearly won a safe Republican House seat in an August 2005 special election, deciding to seek the job.

When Brown announced he had changed his mind, Ryan didn’t abandon Hackett, leading to an exchange of critical words between Ryan and Brown. Hackett quickly left the race, and Ryan backed Brown.

While that was nearly 20 years ago, and the two are past that, there is still some friction between them.

Also, some on Acton’s campaign staff used to work for Brown — and remain very close to the former senator — so there is a natural synergy between Brown and Acton.

While Acton’s campaign doesn’t fear Ryan entering the race and Ryan’s campaign doesn’t see Acton as a threat, a May 2026 primary between the two would cost money that would be better spent on a general election campaign against Vivek Ramaswamy, the almost certain Republican governor candidate.

But no amount of money raised by either Ryan or Acton — or even if you combined the two together — is going to touch what Ramaswamy and his allies will spend.

Ramaswamy is not only very wealthy, but he has already raised $9.9 million in the first half of the year, while a super political action committee backing him raised $16.8 million in the first six months of 2025. Acton’s campaign raised $1.4 million in the first half of the year.

In theory, Ramaswamy could put $100 million of his own money into this race, though he isn’t going to need to do that.

A Brown endorsement hasn’t been made in the governor’s race.

But Acton’s campaign has announced other endorsements during the past couple of weeks.

Acton, who is a Youngstown native, said Wednesday that she received endorsements from Mahoning Valley politicians, former elected officials and actor Ed O’Neill, who is also originally from Youngstown.

Of the political endorsements, the most noteworthy is state Rep. Lauren McNally of Youngstown, the only Democratic state legislator from the Valley. There were three Youngstown council members on the list, the city’s clerk of courts, a couple of former state legislators and a few others.

Noticeably absent from the list were Youngstown Mayor Jamael Tito Brown, who showed Acton around her hometown during a June 4 campaign stop, Warren Mayor Doug Franklin — and any other Warren elected officials besides Treasurer Tom Letson –and no Democrats on the county level. There are only two left in Trumbull County, but there are five in Mahoning County.

It is highly likely that a number of Valley Democrats who will consider endorsing are waiting to see what Ryan decides.

Willard, Ryan’s spokesperson, said Aug. 19 that since Brown announced for Senate, Ryan’s “phone has been blowing up. He really appreciates everyone reaching out to him and asking him to run for governor. He will make a final decision sometime by Sept. 30.”

Skolnick covers politics for the Tribune Chronicle and The Vindicator.