Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton was confronted by an armed man during a campaign stop at the Canfield Fair on Sunday.
The suspect, identified as 38-year-old Patrick Havas of Canfield, barged into the Mahoning County Democratic Party’s tent and shoved through the crowd.
Havas knocked two volunteers to the ground as he pushed his way toward the front of the gathering, according to officials on the scene.
Mahoning County Democratic Party chairman Chris Anderson confirmed the suspect was arrested carrying “multiple weapons” following the incident.
Havas was booked into the Mahoning County Jail on two counts of assault and one count of disorderly conduct, according to campaign officials.
Acton, a physician and former director of Ohio’s Department of Health, was not injured and remained on site to attend to one of the people hurt.
Campaign spokesperson Addie Bullock said Acton is “grateful for the swift and decisive action of law enforcement and are praying for the recovery of those injured.”
Bullock added that “this kind of violence has no place in Ohio” and that “Dr. Acton will always stand up to the chaos, hate and vitriol that pits us against one another.”
Acton is running against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in a closely watched race for the Ohio governor’s office.
Ramaswamy’s communications director Connie Luck issued a statement Sunday evening, saying “candidates should be able to meet with voters without having to worry about threats or violence.”
Luck added that “what happened today is completely unacceptable and has no place in politics, and we hope that no one was hurt.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine posted on X praising the response of law enforcement, writing that a man “tried to forcefully push himself toward Dr. Acton as she was speaking and injured other attendees at the Mahoning County Democrat booth.”
Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who previously served alongside DeWine and Acton as lieutenant governor, posted on X that he and his wife were “disturbed by the attempted attack.”
Husted stated that “there is no place for this kind of behavior, and it must never be tolerated,” adding his voice to a broad bipartisan condemnation of the incident.
