In the final weeks before a midterm election, a bitter Ohio governor's race has been pulled into a painful family history that few candidates would willingly expose. A Republican attack ad, featuring the estranged mother of Democrat Amy Acton, disputes the childhood abuse and homelessness Acton has described, and it has become a test of where political loyalty ends and personal cruelty begins. President Trump has urged its continued airing while Governor Mike DeWine, who knows well the suffering of abuse victims, has called it wrong. The episode asks an old question in new clothes: whether a c
Trump Backs Ramaswamy Ad Featuring Rival Amy Acton's Estranged Mother Amid Backlash
Acton says she was sexually abused as a child by her stepfather and experienced homelessness; the ad publicly disputes that account.
"It's wrong to run this ad," the governor said, urging the campaign to pull it.
Mark
Why is this ad drawing so much attention beyond ordinary attack-ad fare?
Mimi
Because it puts a family estrangement and an abuse allegation at the center of a campaign. Donna Arthur disputes her daughter's account of homelessness and abuse by her stepfather, and Acton says she hasn't seen her mother since 1978.
Luke
Worth being exact here: the ad is one person's dispute. Acton's brother, Philip Stearns, supports her account, and the stepfather, who died in 2004, was charged with rape. That's what the reporting actually establishes.
Mark
And the Republican response isn't unified.
Mimi
No. Governor Mike DeWine said it's wrong and asked the campaign to take it down, citing his years as a prosecutor and attorney general. Trump answered by calling him disloyal.
Luke
Note that Trump's claim that such a mother's words would normally preclude someone from office is his opinion, not a finding of anything.
Mark
What about Vance?
Mimi
He campaigned with Ramaswamy and Senator Jon Husted on Wednesday and dismissed Republicans who were "whining" about it.
Mark
Does the money say something?
Mimi
The campaign says it is spending $4 million to promote the ad, so it isn't retreating.
Luke
That figure comes from the campaign itself. And whether the ad helps or hurts is unknown; polls show Acton narrowly ahead, but nothing here measures the ad's effect.
El Pulso
- A mother's on-camera denial of her daughter's abuse account has landed in the middle of a tight governor's race.
- President Trump publicly urged Vivek Ramaswamy to keep the ad running and branded Governor Mike DeWine disloyal for asking for its removal.
- DeWine, a former prosecutor and attorney general, pressed the campaign to pull the spot even this late, invoking his years handling rape cases.
- Acton's brother backs her account, and her campaign calls the ad despicable, while Ramaswamy's campaign commits $4 million to keep it visible.
- With Acton narrowly ahead and the midterms weeks away, the Republican split over the ad may decide whether it helps or hurts Ramaswamy.
In the final weeks before a midterm election, a bitter Ohio governor's race has been pulled into a painful family history that few candidates would willingly expose. A Republican attack ad, featuring the estranged mother of Democrat Amy Acton, disputes the childhood abuse and homelessness Acton has described, and it has become a test of where political loyalty ends and personal cruelty begins. President Trump has urged its continued airing while Governor Mike DeWine, who knows well the suffering of abuse victims, has called it wrong. The episode asks an old question in new clothes: whether a campaign may use a family's wound as a weapon, and who within a party is willing to say no.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump urged Vivek Ramaswamy to keep running an attack ad from his Ohio governor's campaign. The spot features Donna Arthur, the estranged mother of Democratic opponent Amy Acton, who disputes her daughter's account of a childhood marked by homelessness and sexual abuse by a stepfather. In the ad she urges voters not to support Acton. Acton says she has not seen her mother since 1978, and her brother, Philip Stearns, has backed her account. The stepfather, who died in 2004, was charged with rape.
Trump said that a person whose mother spoke about a daughter that way should not be fit for office, and he attacked Governor Mike DeWine as disloyal after DeWine asked Ramaswamy to pull the spot. DeWine, who spent years as a county prosecutor and attorney general handling rape cases, said plainly that it was wrong to run the ad and that he would still urge its removal. Acton's camp answered with fierce words. Her brother called it a desperate, disgusting attack, and her campaign said Ramaswamy's promotion of it was despicable and predictable.
Vice President JD Vance, campaigning with Ramaswamy and Senator Jon Husted, waved off the criticism and mocked Republicans who complained. Ramaswamy's campaign is spending $4 million on the ad in the final stretch, a sign it means to be seen rather than quietly withdrawn. Acton still holds a narrow lead in a close race, and with the midterms weeks away, the question is whether the ad and the party's divisions over it will shift the contest.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump took to social media with a piece of advice for Vivek Ramaswamy: keep the ad running. The ad, an attack spot from the Republican candidate for Ohio governor, features the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton.
In it, Donna Arthur, Acton's mother, disputes her daughter's account of her childhood, which includes homelessness and sexual abuse by a stepfather. She urges Ohioans not to vote for Acton. Acton says she has not seen her mother since 1978. Her brother, Philip Stearns, has backed her account of the abuse. The stepfather, who died in 2004, was charged with rape.
Trump defended the ad in blunt terms. Anyone whose mother spoke about a daughter that way, he said, would normally be precluded from serving in office. He also turned on Ohio's Republican governor, Mike DeWine, who had urged Ramaswamy to pull the spot, calling him "disloyal" to the party.
DeWine spoke to reporters at the Ohio Statehouse and drew on his past as a county prosecutor and as state attorney general, roles in which he dealt with the painful experiences of rape victims. "It's wrong to run this ad," he said. He added that his wife, Fran, had seen it on television that same morning, and that even this late he would urge the Ramaswamy campaign to take it down.
Acton's side responded with sharp language. Stearns called the ad a "desperate, disgusting attack." Addie Bullock, a spokesperson for the Acton campaign, said Ramaswamy's decision to promote it was "both despicable and entirely predictable."
The criticism has not come only from outside the Republican camp, but the campaign's allies have not wavered. On Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance, a former Ohio senator, campaigned alongside Ramaswamy and US Senator Jon Husted, an Ohio Republican, and brushed aside the blowback. He expressed disgust with Republicans "whining" about the ad, which others had described as low and in poor taste.
Ramaswamy's campaign says it is putting $4 million behind the spot. That is a considerable sum for a closing-stretch commitment, and it suggests the campaign intends the ad to be seen widely rather than withdrawn quietly.
The stakes are high. Opinion polls suggest Acton holds a narrow lead over Ramaswamy in a tight race to succeed DeWine, who is term-limited. With the midterm elections weeks away, the question now is whether the ad's reach, and the Republican split over it, changes the standing of a race that is already close.
Citas Notables
It's wrong to run this ad.— Ohio Governor Mike DeWine
Ramaswamy's decision to promote the ad was both despicable and entirely predictable.— Addie Bullock, Acton campaign spokesperson
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Politics & Governance