Ramaswamy Ad Featuring Amy Acton's Estranged Mother Draws GOP Warnings Before Ohio Election

Republican Ohio gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy is airing an attack ad in which Donna Arthur, the estranged mother of Democratic opponent Dr. Amy Acton, calls her daughter a liar unfit to be governor, days before the midterm election. Court documents and contemporaneous accounts say Acton's stepfather, Cledith "Bud" Arthur, was indicted for allegedly raping Acton as a child, and that her mother fled Ohio with him before trial and stayed with him until he died. Ramaswamy's campaign said it would put millions of dollars behind the ad, and President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly embraced it. Vance told Republicans to stop whining. Outgoing Gov. Mike DeWine called it deeply troubling, and Trump rebuked him as disloyal. Sen. Jon Husted, in a tight race against Democrat Sherrod Brown, said he would not have run it. Internal Republican polling reportedly shows Ramaswamy falling further behind. On Wednesday, a woman described as Bud Arthur's 62-year-old biological daughter said she believes Acton and that he also raped her late sister.

Left-leaning outlets treat the ad as a smear. The New Republic, under a headline saying it got worse, leads with the stepdaughter's corroboration and says Ramaswamy ignored his team's advice. Mother Jones leads with John Legend's Dayton rally speech and Democrats rallying, and details the tepid criticism from DeWine and Husted against Vance's and Trump's defiance. Alternative outlets add an inside-Republican angle. Axios reports the polling and party anxiety, while Zeteo cites unnamed people close to the campaign, including a Trump adviser, who warned it would backfire. Right-leaning outlets had not reported the story at the time of writing.