Armed man arrested after rushing Ohio governor candidate Amy Acton at Canfield Fair

An armed man pushed through a crowd toward Ohio's Democratic nominee for governor at a county fair on Sunday afternoon, knocking down bystanders before he was tackled and arrested by her state trooper security detail, according to law enforcement and both campaigns in the race.

Dr. Amy Acton, the former Ohio health director now running for governor, was addressing supporters inside the Mahoning County Democratic Party's tent at the Canfield Fair, an annual Labor Day weekend fixture near Youngstown, when Patrick Havas, 38, of Canfield, forced his way toward her while filming on a cellphone. Acton's security detail, made up of Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers, intervened, and two fairgoers were knocked to the ground in the scramble. Acton was not injured and stayed at the scene afterward to help one of the people who was hurt, NBC News reported, a detail also confirmed by CBS News, which cited the same sheriff's office account of the confrontation.

What happened at the fair

The incident occurred around 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene told reporters that Havas "aggressively shoved his way through the crowd toward Acton while holding a cell phone up," knocking over two older attendees who were using mobility scooters. Deputies who took Havas into custody afterward recovered two handguns and a set of brass knuckles on him, though investigators from the Mahoning County Sheriff's Office said none of the weapons were ever drawn or removed from their holsters during the confrontation. Havas was booked into the Mahoning County Jail on two counts of felony assault and one count of disorderly conduct; because the Mahoning County Court in Canfield was closed for the Labor Day holiday, he was expected to make his first court appearance Tuesday, the Youngstown Vindicator reported.

Witnesses inside the tent described a chaotic few seconds. Wayne Penny Jr., a Democratic candidate for a state House seat who was present, said Havas "literally bull-rushed through the crowd, knocked our volunteers down, ran through, pushed and knocked the elderly gentleman over with Parkinson's, and the gentleman hit his head and fell." Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman Chris Anderson said in a statement that the man also knocked several campaign volunteers to the ground before troopers subdued him.

Court and jail records show Havas has one prior brush with the law: a 2008 disorderly conduct and petty theft case, over an alleged shoplifting of three movies, that ended with a no-contest plea, a dismissed theft charge and a suspended 30-day jail sentence, along with minor traffic citations in 2008 and 2011. Voter registration records cited in reporting on his background list Havas, a licensed nurse, as a registered Republican whose most recent recorded vote was in 2024. Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the confrontation, and neither Havas nor his family had issued a public statement as of Monday.

A closely watched governor's race

The confrontation landed in the middle of one of the country's marquee 2026 governor's races. Acton, a physician, became a household name in Ohio in 2020 as director of the state health department, delivering the daily coronavirus briefings that made her, for a time, one of the most recognizable public officials in the state. She is the Democratic nominee to succeed term-limited Gov. Mike DeWine, who cannot run again after two terms in office. She faces Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, the biotech entrepreneur and 2024 presidential candidate who briefly co-led the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency before stepping aside in early 2025 to enter the governor's race, and who is running alongside his pick for lieutenant governor, Ohio Senate President Rob McColley.

Public polling has described the contest as competitive, an unusual position for a statewide race in a state Republicans have carried comfortably in recent presidential and U.S. Senate elections. That has made both campaigns' physical presence at retail-politics events like the Canfield Fair, one of the largest county fairs in the country with roughly 350,000 visitors over its run, a fixture of the fall campaign. Candidates from both parties have traditionally used the fairgrounds, about 15 miles southeast of Youngstown, to meet voters directly in the closing stretch of Ohio campaigns.

Acton's campaign said in a statement posted to her campaign website that "an armed individual lunged at Dr. Acton, injuring multiple people," and that she and her running mate were "grateful for the swift and decisive action of law enforcement" and "praying for the recovery of those injured." The statement added that Acton "will always stand up to the chaos, hate and vitriol that pits us against one another," without elaborating further on the injuries or the suspect.

Bipartisan condemnation

Reaction crossed party lines within hours. DeWine, a Republican not seeking reelection, posted on social media that he had spoken with Acton and that she asked him to relay to Ohioans that she was fine, while thanking the Ohio State Highway Patrol for what he called their quick response.

"Violence or the threat of violence at political or public events is always unacceptable," DeWine said in his statement, adding that "this case is now in the hands of law enforcement and will be investigated thoroughly."

Ramaswamy's campaign, through communications director Connie Luck, issued its own condemnation: "Candidates should be able to meet with voters without having to worry about threats or violence. What happened today is completely unacceptable and has no place in politics, and we hope that no one was hurt." The unqualified statement stood out given how sharply the two campaigns have otherwise clashed this fall over Ramaswamy's record leading the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency, which he left in early 2025 to enter the governor's race, and over Acton's tenure overseeing Ohio's pandemic-era business and school closures.

What happens next

The Mahoning County Sheriff's Office said detectives are continuing to investigate and will consult with the county prosecutor's office before any additional charges are filed. Havas's initial court appearance is expected Tuesday in Mahoning County Court in Canfield, where a judge will typically address bond and formal arraignment on the assault and disorderly conduct counts.

Neither campaign announced changes to its public schedule in the immediate aftermath, and both Acton and Ramaswamy are expected to keep making the kind of county-fair and retail-politics stops that are standard in statewide Ohio campaigns as the race heads into its final ten weeks before the November 3 election. Acton, who already travels with an Ohio State Highway Patrol detail as a major-party nominee, has not said whether Sunday's incident will change how she approaches public events. For now, the case remains with the Mahoning County Sheriff's Office and the county prosecutor, who will decide whether the charges against Havas stand as filed or are amended once the investigation is complete.