In the final stretch of Ohio's governor race, a campaign advertisement built around the estranged mother of Democrat Amy Acton has become a test of how far political combat can reach into a family's most painful history. Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee, has told voters the spot has run its course and that his campaign has moved on to others, while he presses to return the contest to policy. Yet the ad drew rebukes from both parties and reopened a child rape case from 1978 that Acton survived as a girl, so its shadow lingers beyond any broadcast schedule. What remains is a familiar question i
Ramaswamy Pulls Attack Ad Targeting Acton's Mother After Bipartisan Backlash
Acton has described childhood abuse and neglect, including living in a tent; the ad revived a child rape case from the 1970s affecting her family.
It ran to completion and we put up four other ads.
Mark
Ramaswamy says the ad simply ran its course. Is that the same as pulling it?
Mimi
Not quite. He never said he withdrew it. He said it ran to completion and four other ads went up. The headline says pulled, but his own words describe an ad that finished.
Luke
Right, so what do we actually know? That he confirmed it's no longer airing. Why it stopped, whether the backlash played a part, is not established in what he said.
Mark
And the edit from 60 seconds to 30. What was cut?
Mimi
The mother's claim that her daughter lied about living in a tent. Court records show her stepfather was living in a tent when he was arrested.
Luke
That's a solid point because it rests on records. But note the mother's account of events is her own claim, and the ad leaned on it.
Mark
Trump defended the ad at a rally. Why does that matter here?
Mimi
Because the criticism crossed party lines, and the president sided with the campaign anyway. He wouldn't concede the rape allegation bears on her credibility.
Luke
I'd flag the mental health details. That comes from NBC News and Zeteo reporting, described as suggesting, and the Guardian doesn't independently confirm it. Same with some ad staffers being troubled.
Mark
What should a reader watch for next?
Mimi
Whether the campaign moves to policy, and whether Acton keeps using the ad in her own messaging. Ramaswamy also keeps pressing her on debates.
Luke
And the $4m figure is what the campaign announced. Whether all of it was spent isn't stated.
Le Pouls
- Ramaswamy's campaign stopped airing a $4 million attack ad built around Amy Acton's estranged mother, but he would not say it was pulled.
- The ad's edited version cut a claim that Acton lied about living in a tent, and court records show her stepfather was living in one when arrested for rape.
- Criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike has put the campaign on the defensive, while Donald Trump kept defending the ad at rallies.
- Acton answered with her own ad and a personal account of childhood abuse, accusing Ramaswamy of exploiting it to rescue a struggling campaign.
- The race now hinges on whether the final days turn to policy or stay locked on the controversy.
In the final stretch of Ohio's governor race, a campaign advertisement built around the estranged mother of Democrat Amy Acton has become a test of how far political combat can reach into a family's most painful history. Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee, has told voters the spot has run its course and that his campaign has moved on to others, while he presses to return the contest to policy. Yet the ad drew rebukes from both parties and reopened a child rape case from 1978 that Acton survived as a girl, so its shadow lingers beyond any broadcast schedule. What remains is a familiar question in democratic life: whether an election can be argued on its merits when the past of one candidate is pulled into the light for a vote.
On Thursday in Vandalia, Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy was asked whether his campaign had stopped running the attack ad aimed at the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton. He did not say it had been pulled. He said the ad had run to completion, that four others had followed, and that he wanted the final stretch of the race to be about policy. He used the moment to criticize Acton for refusing to debate him.
The ad had been bought for $4 million and first aired in a 60-second version. The campaign cut it to remove a claim by Acton's mother that her daughter had lied about living in a tent with her stepfather. Court records from the time back up the tent: Cledith Arthur was living in one when he was arrested on rape charges involving Acton, then between ten and twelve years old. Her mother, Donna Arthur, lost custody in 1978, and according to the records, called her daughter a liar and left the state with her husband.
Criticism came from both parties. Trump defended the ad at a rally with Ramaswamy, though he did not acknowledge that the old allegation bears on the credibility of Acton's mother. Acton's campaign answered with its own ad, asking how far Ramaswamy would go to win and accusing him of exploiting a child's sexual abuse.
Later that day Acton spoke for herself. She described a childhood of abuse and neglect, repeated contact with children's services, and a winter spent living in a tent with her brother. She accused Ramaswamy of deliberately exploiting that history to save a faltering campaign, and told him it would not work. With the ad off the air by his account, the question is whether the race returns to policy or stays on the wound.
On Thursday, in Vandalia, Ohio, a reporter asked Vivek Ramaswamy a direct question: had his campaign stopped running the attack ad built around the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton? The Republican nominee for governor did not say he had pulled it. He said the ad had run to completion and that his campaign had put up four others.
He then tried to turn the subject. For all the discussion about 30-second ads, he said, he would like the campaign's final stretch to be about policy. He used the opening to criticize Acton for not debating him. The 30-second reference was to the edited version of the spot. The original ran 60 seconds, and the campaign cut it to remove a claim by Acton's mother that her daughter had lied about the family living in a tent with her stepfather.
That claim did not hold up against the record. Court records from the time show that Cledith Arthur, the stepfather, was in fact living in a tent when he was arrested on rape charges. The charges involved Acton, who was between the ages of 10 and 12. Her mother, Donna Arthur, lost custody of her in 1978. According to the court records, Arthur called her daughter a liar and fled the state with her husband after the accusation.
The Ramaswamy campaign had announced the ad buy only a week earlier, at $4m. Criticism came from Democrats and Republicans alike. In a 2020 interview with the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, conducted while Acton was leading Ohio's response to the Covid pandemic, Acton's mother said she knew before marrying Cledith Arthur that he had been accused of raping his own daughter.
Donald Trump defended the ad repeatedly, including at a rally with Ramaswamy on Wednesday. He declined to acknowledge that the child rape allegation bears on the credibility of Acton's mother. Reporting from NBC News and Zeteo suggests that she has struggled with mental health challenges and was found living in her car with dozens of cats. According to that reporting, this troubled some of the people who worked on the ad for the campaign.
Acton's campaign answered with an ad of its own, released Thursday morning. It asks how far Ramaswamy will go, and says that to become governor he will smear his opponent over being raped by her stepfather at age 10, exploiting the sexual abuse of a child and spending millions lying to voters about it.
Acton spoke about it herself at an event later that day. Many in the room, she said, had probably heard something about her childhood by now. She and her brother lived through abuse and neglect, she said, were frequent flyers in children's services, and ended up living in a tent in the middle of winter. She accused Ramaswamy of deliberately exploiting her childhood in a desperate attempt to save a struggling campaign, and told him it would not work.
With the ad off the air by Ramaswamy's account, the open question is whether the closing days turn to policy, as he says he wants, or stay on the ad itself. Acton's own spot keeps the controversy in front of voters.
Citations marquantes
It ran to completion and we put up four other ads.— Vivek Ramaswamy, in Vandalia, Ohio
My opponent has now chosen to exploit my childhood intentionally.— Amy Acton, at a campaign event Thursday
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Politics & Governance