Morrow County, Ohio

Morrow County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 34,950. Its county seat is Mount Gilead. The county was organized in 1848 from parts of four neighboring counties and named for Jeremiah Morrow who was the Governor of Ohio from 1822 to 1826. Shawnee people used the area for hunting purposes before white settlers arrived in the early 19th century. Morrow County is included in the Columbus, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 2010, the center of population of Ohio was located in Morrow County, near the village of Marengo. Morrow County’s historic World War I Victory Shaft, unique in the United States, is located in the center of downtown Mount Gilead. Other areas interesting to the tourist include: Mount Gilead State Park; Amish farms and businesses near Johnsville and Chesterville; the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course near Steam Corners; the rolling Allegheny foothills of eastern Morrow County; the site of the birthplace of President Warren G. Harding near Blooming Grove; the site of the former Ohio Central College in Iberia; the early 19th-century architecture of buildings in Chesterville, Ohio; the Revolutionary War Soldiers’ Memorial in Mount Gilead; the Civil War monument in Cardington; and the mid-19th-century architecture of the Morrow County Courthouse and Old Jail in Mount Gilead.

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The Ohio Republican Party and its Morrow County chapter circulated a doctored screenshot claiming to show Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton posting a photo of her Jeep with a "Drunk Mom" restricted license plate, the type issued in Ohio to those convicted of driving under the influence. The image was fabricated: Acton's actual August 19, 2026 Facebook post promoted a campaign tire cover and showed a plate reading "SOOOHIO," with no reference to drinking.

The fake spread amid an ongoing GOP attack line tied to a 2019 domestic dispute at Acton's home, first detailed in an NBC News report, which Acton and her husband have said was exaggerated and did not involve intoxication. Acton, former director of the Ohio Department of Health during the COVID-19 response, faces Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, backed by President Trump, in November's election. The episode echoes past altered-media attacks on figures like Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi, and underscores the misinformation risks shadowing the closely watched Ohio governor's race.

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Morrow County, Ohio

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Ohio GOP shares doctored image of Amy Acton’s car in gubernatorial race

Ohio GOP shares doctored image of Amy Acton’s car in gubernatorial race

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