5 minPolitics
Ramaswamy Ad Featuring Acton's Estranged Mother Draws Broad Condemnation in Ohio Governor Race
With two weeks until Ohio's gubernatorial election, Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign is facing backlash over an attack ad featuring the estranged mother of Democratic candidate Amy Acton, who alleges Acton lied about childhood homelessness. The ad has drawn criticism from political commentators and social media users, while the Ramaswamy campaign defends its content.
An attack ad from Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, has drawn widespread condemnation as Ohio's gubernatorial race enters its final two weeks before the November 3 election. The ad, which began circulating recently, features Donna Arthur, Acton's mother, alleging that Acton has lied about being homeless as a child and calling her a «liar.»
The spot immediately sparked backlash, particularly because of the strained relationship between Acton and Arthur. The two say they have not seen each other since Acton was 12 years old, when they went to court in 1978 as Arthur's husband, Acton's stepfather, was charged with sexually abusing Acton as a child over a period of years. Arthur did not address those charges in the ad.
Acton's brother, Phillip Stearns, issued a statement defending his sister and condemning the ad. He said it was unsurprising that Ramaswamy «stooped to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at 12 years old from our birth mother's husband into a political talking point.» Stearns added that after the arrest, he and Acton were removed from their mother's custody, and that their mother remained married to Acton's abuser until his death. He called the attack «desperate» and «disgusting.»
Acton herself addressed the ad in an interview with Spectrum News, saying it exemplifies why she will not participate in a debate with Ramaswamy. «I won't normalize somebody who has said that my childhood is 'something I'm just complaining about,'» Acton said. «The words our leaders use matter and I think it's gonna take courage right now from all of us to stop normalizing this sort of rhetoric.»
The Ramaswamy campaign has defended the ad. Spokesperson Connie Luck said in a statement that the campaign does not know what happened between Acton and her mother, who first spoke out about Acton in 2020, but asserted that Acton is «a serial fabulist who has some serious problems with the truth.»
The ad became a trending topic on social media, with viral posts denouncing the campaign for bringing Acton's childhood into the election. One response read, «Somehow they always come up with new ways to be unbelievably evil.» Another post with nearly a million views called it «possibly the most despicable political attack I've ever heard.» A user commenting alongside Ramaswamy's latest prediction-market odds, which sat at an all-time low of 22%, wrote, «Imagine being so desperate to win an election that your supporters start digging through your opponent's childhood trauma. And you're still losing.»
Political consultant and CNN analyst David Axelrod also condemned the ad in a post that garnered more than 186,000 views. «I've been around politics longer than [Vivek's] been alive, and I don't think I've ever seen anything uglier,» Axelrod wrote. «The ad and Vivek's failure to repudiate it tells us so much more about him than his opponent.» Meghan McCain, a television personality and daughter of the late Sen. John McCain, called the ad «dastardly» and said «it never should have been created.»
Not all public figures took Acton's side. Vice President JD Vance dismissed criticism of the ad at a press conference, saying he is «a little bit disgusted when I see Republicans across the country who are whining more about that advertisement than they are about what the congressional Democrats and other Democrats want to do to the United States of America.» Vance added, «Politics is a tough business. And my message to my fellow elected Republicans is if you actually believe in the things you say you believe in, stop whining about an advertisement and go win the race in 13 days.»
The controversy comes as early voting is underway in Ohio and both campaigns are making their final pitches to voters. The race has drawn national attention as a test of Ramaswamy's political brand and Acton's ability to weather personal attacks. The ad's focus on Acton's childhood has raised questions about the boundaries of political advertising, with critics arguing that it crosses a line by exploiting family trauma for electoral gain.
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