Ramaswamy’s Ad Featuring Amy Acton’s Mother: Who Condemned It, and Who Didn’t

Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign for Ohio governor confirmed on October 20 that it produced a one-minute ad featuring Donna Arthur, the birth mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton. In it, Arthur calls her daughter “a liar” who “lies about her past” and suggests she has mental health problems. The campaign says it will spend $4 million to air and promote it.

Within two days, the ad had drawn criticism from Ohio’s Republican governor, its Republican U.S. senator, its Republican secretary of state, and national Republicans including Nikki Haley and Rep. Nancy Mace. President Trump and Vice President JD Vance defended it. Here is what the ad says, why it drew such a reaction, and where the race stands.

What the ad says, and how it surfaced

The video first appeared on October 20 in a post by an Ohio political blogger, who said a voter had seen it while taking an online poll, recorded it, and passed it to him. It circulated initially without the “paid for by” disclosure that campaign ads require. That evening, the Ramaswamy campaign confirmed it had produced the ad.

In the ad, Arthur repeatedly calls Acton a liar and says she lies about her past. Campaign spokesperson Connie Luck said Arthur was not paid, that the video would air on television and stream online, and that Acton “has some serious problems with the truth that the public needs to be aware of.” Campaign manager Jonathan Ewing called it “a campaign-ending moment for Amy Acton.”

Why it struck a nerve

Acton, a physician and Ohio’s former health director, has spoken publicly about a difficult childhood. According to Mahoning County court records reported by the Associated Press and the Ohio Capital Journal, her stepfather, Cledith Arthur, was charged in 1978 with sexually abusing her when she was 12, and she was removed from her mother’s custody. He fled before trial and has since died. Acton’s brother, Philip Stearns, said she has not seen their mother since they were in a courtroom together in 1978.

That history is why critics in both parties described the ad not as a hard-hitting attack but as an attack on a survivor of abuse, using the parent who lost custody of her.

Ramaswamy’s defense

Ramaswamy took responsibility for the ad at a town hall on the evening of October 20 and defended it. He said it was not “petty” because it showed a “pattern” of people close to Acton telling voters not to elect her, and that Acton “has been hiding from those issues.” He also said, “She won’t debate me.” As of October 22, the campaign had given no sign it would pull the ad.

Who condemned it

“It’s wrong to run this ad. … Family members have always historically been off limits.”Gov. Mike DeWine (R), Oct. 22

Who defended it

Republican strategists were less enthusiastic in private. One told TIME, “We now deserve to lose this race,” and GOP strategist Mike Murphy wrote that the ad “is looking more and more like political suicide.”

Acton’s response

Acton said, “I won’t normalize somebody who has said that my childhood is just something I’m complaining about,” and called it “a terrible thing to do this to someone who is not well.” She described Ramaswamy’s personal attacks, going back to his 2024 presidential campaign, as “a lifelong pattern.” Her campaign released a video of her brother, who said she took “the worst” of the abuse to protect him. Spokesperson Addie Bullock called the ad “despicable” and said Ramaswamy is “totally unfit to lead Ohio.”

Where the race stands

Ratings: Sabato’s Crystal Ball moved the race from Toss-Up to Leans D this week. Cook Political Report rates it a Toss-Up. If Acton wins, she would be the first Democrat elected governor of Ohio since 2006, in a state Trump carried by 11 points in 2024. Gov. DeWine is term-limited.

Down the ballot: The ad has also become an issue in Ohio’s Senate race, the most expensive in the country, where Brown has pressed Husted to condemn it. Husted told the AP he would not have run it.

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