Amy Acton, the Democratic candidate for governor of Ohio, called a new attack ad by rival Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign "despicable" on Wednesday, October 21, escalating one of the ugliest controversies of the Ohio governor's race: a one-minute spot featuring Acton's estranged mother accusing her of lying about her childhood.
Acton responds: "This is despicable, what he's done"
Speaking after a campaign event at a Wyandot County farm on Wednesday evening, Acton told Columbus station 10TV the ad was "a horrible and hideous thing to do," saying: "A sad thing, and I feel like it was an exploitative thing to do. My mother is not well. So, I think it's despicable." She added that she has never attacked Ramaswamy's family and never would.
A day earlier, Acton had addressed the ad in a Facebook post, writing that her "birth mother did nothing to protect me" from the abuse she suffered as a child and that it was "sad to see Vivek Ramaswamy exploit her all for his own political gain." In the post, she described growing up in Youngstown with her brother Phil enduring abuse, hunger and neglect, including one winter homeless and living in a tent, being kept in a dark basement, and frequent contact with child protective services.
The ad and what it leaves out
The ad features Acton's mother, Donna Stearns Arthur, who says Acton has "lied her entire life" about her past and tells Ohioans, "she can't help you if she needs help herself." The Ramaswamy campaign has put $4 million in airtime behind the spot, and Ramaswamy confirmed on Tuesday that the ad is from his campaign, adding that Arthur was not compensated for taking part.
What the ad does not mention is why Acton and her mother are estranged. Acton has said openly that she has not seen her mother since 1978, when she was 12 and her stepfather, Cledith Arthur, was charged with raping her; Acton and her younger brother were then removed from their mother's custody. Arthur stayed married to the stepfather until he died in 2004, and the stepfather fled the state before he could stand trial and was never prosecuted. Acton says the last time she saw her mother was in a courtroom in 1978.
Backlash, DeWine and Trump
The ad drew backlash from both parties. Acton's younger brother, Philip Stearns, condemned it as "a despicable low," accusing Ramaswamy of turning "the sexual abuse Amy endured at 12 years old" into "a political talking point," and the Acton campaign released an ad featuring Phil this week. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who endorsed Ramaswamy, reportedly described the ad as deeply troubling and called for it to be taken down.
President Donald Trump defended the ad on Thursday, October 22, writing on Truth Social that "the Press is trying to convince everyone that this Ad is bad, because it's so good," adding that he had urged Ramaswamy to keep it up, calling Acton "a defective, dishonest, and incapable Candidate," and blasting DeWine. Acton and Ramaswamy are running to replace term-limited DeWine in the November 3 midterm election. Acton is a physician who served as Ohio's health director during the early days of COVID, while Ramaswamy is a billionaire biotech entrepreneur and former co-chair of Trump's DOGE effort.
With the election less than two weeks away, the ad fight has become the defining flashpoint of the race — and a test of whether voters punish personal attacks that reach into a candidate's childhood trauma.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Lightless Dawn (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources: USA Today; People; News One USA; Polialert