Armed assailant attacks Ohio Democratic candidate during campaign stop

Patrick Havas, 38, arrested with weapons after injuring several at Ohio Democrat Amy Acton’s campaign stop.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton speaks at a primary election night campaign event after winning the party's nomination for governor on May 5, 2026, in Columbus, Ohio [Jay LaPrete/AP Photo]

An armed assailant in the United States attacked the Democratic candidate for Ohio governor, Amy Acton, during a campaign stop at the Canfield Fair, injuring several people, campaign officials said.

The individual lunged at Acton as she was speaking on Sunday. Acton was unharmed after the incident, campaign spokesperson ⁠⁠Addie Bullock said in a statement.

The suspect, Patrick Havas, 38, was arrested with multiple weapons after knocking volunteers to the ground, according to a statement from Mahoning County Democratic Party chairman Chris Anderson.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol, which made the arrest, said Havas had two pistols and a Taser before he was stopped by troopers.

Police officers from Mahoning County said two handguns and a set of brass knuckles were recovered after the incident.

Havas was booked on charges of disorderly conduct and two counts of assault at the county jail, but no other details were available pending an investigation, the highway patrol added.

The suspect knocked ⁠⁠down two older adults during the ⁠⁠incident, Sheriff Jerry Greene told local NBC outlet 21 News.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine condemned the attack in a statement and said Ohio police at the fair quickly responded to the incident at the Mahoning County Democratic booth. DeWine, a Republican, is unable to run for re-election because of term limits.

Acton’s Republican opponent in the general election, Vivek Ramaswamy, called Sunday’s attack “completely unacceptable” in a campaign statement. Ramaswamy, leveraging national name recognition and alliances with the tech industry and President Donald Trump, has raised record funds and spent on advertisements criticising Acton.

Federal political committees spent more than $40m on security during the 2023–2024 campaign cycle, according to the most recent publicly available data cited by the nonpartisan group Public Service Alliance.

A Trump-backed political group recently announced it will spend $10m on television and digital advertisements in the state of Texas ahead of the upcoming elections. Trump said he planned to spend up to $500m to help Republican candidates in their races.

The Ohio gubernatorial race is one of the most closely watched in this year’s midterm elections. Campaigns are entering the final six weeks before the election on November 3.

The attempted attack is the latest in a string of political violence cases in the US, which has seen a rise in similar incidents over the past decade.

In 2025, Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, were assassinated at their home. The husband of former Democratic House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi was assaulted in 2022 .

Trump was also the target of two assassination attempts during the 2024 presidential campaign, while an armed man attempted to breach security at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, where the president was in attendance.

38 岁的帕特里克·哈瓦斯在俄亥俄州民主党人艾米·阿克顿的竞选活动中持械伤人后被捕。

2026年5月5日，在俄亥俄州哥伦布市，民主党州长候选人艾米·阿克顿在赢得该党州长候选人提名后，在初选之夜的竞选活动上发表讲话。[杰伊·拉普雷特/美联社照片]

据竞选官员称，一名持枪袭击者在美国俄亥俄州坎菲尔德集市上袭击了民主党州长候选人艾米·阿克顿，当时她正在进行竞选活动，袭击造成多人受伤。

周日，阿克顿正在发表讲话时，一名男子突然向她扑来。竞选发言人艾迪·布洛克在一份声明中表示，阿克顿在事件中并未受伤。

据马霍宁县民主党主席克里斯·安德森发表的声明称，嫌疑人帕特里克·哈瓦斯（38岁）在将志愿者击倒在地后被捕，身上携带多件武器。

俄亥俄州公路巡逻队逮捕了哈瓦斯，并表示哈瓦斯在被巡警拦下之前，身上携带了两把手枪和一把泰瑟枪。

马霍宁县警方表示，事件发生后缴获了两支手枪和一副指节铜套。

哈瓦斯因扰乱治安和两项袭击罪被关押在县监狱，但公路巡警补充说，在调查进行期间，没有其他细节可供公布。

警长杰里·格林告诉当地 NBC 21 新闻频道，嫌疑人在事件中撞倒了两名老年人。

俄亥俄州州长迈克·德瓦恩发表声明谴责了这起袭击事件，并表示俄亥俄州警方迅速对马霍宁县民主党展位发生的事件做出了反应。德瓦恩是共和党人，由于任期限制，他无法竞选连任。

阿克顿在普选中的共和党对手维韦克·拉马斯瓦米在一份竞选声明中称周日的袭击“完全不可接受”。拉马斯瓦米凭借其全国知名度以及与科技行业和唐纳德·特朗普总统的联盟，筹集了创纪录的竞选资金，并斥巨资投放广告批评阿克顿。

根据无党派团体公共服务联盟引用的最新公开数据，联邦政治委员会在 2023-2024 年竞选周期中花费了超过 4000 万美元用于安保。

一个由特朗普支持的政治团体近日宣布，将在即将到来的德克萨斯州选举前斥资1000万美元用于电视和网络广告。特朗普表示，他计划花费高达5亿美元来帮助共和党候选人赢得选举。

俄亥俄州州长竞选是今年中期选举中最受关注的选战之一。距离11月3日的大选仅剩最后六周，各竞选团队正全力投入角逐。

这次袭击未遂事件是美国近期一系列政治暴力案件中的最新一起，过去十年间，类似事件呈上升趋势。

2025年，明尼苏达州议员梅丽莎·霍特曼和她的丈夫马克·霍特曼在家中遇刺身亡。2022年，前民主党众议院议长南希·佩洛西的丈夫遭到袭击。

在 2024 年总统竞选期间，特朗普还曾两次遭遇暗杀未遂；今年，一名持枪男子试图闯入白宫记者协会晚宴的安保现场，当时总统正在出席晚宴。