Ramaswamy Ad Featuring Amy Acton's Estranged Mother Draws Backlash in Ohio Governor Race

Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is facing fallout over a campaign ad featuring Donna Arthur, 82, the estranged mother of Democratic opponent Amy Acton, who calls her daughter a liar. Acton has said her stepfather, Cledith "Bud" Arthur, sexually abused her as a child. He was arrested and charged with child rape in 1978, and Donna Arthur lost custody of Amy and her brother. On Wednesday, a 62-year-old Youngstown woman, Arthur's biological daughter, told the Daily Mail she believes Acton. She said Arthur raped her late sister Christine more than once before marrying Donna in 1975. At a Monday stop in Thornville, Ramaswamy called Acton crazy, unstable and a liar. Zeteo News reported that advisers urged him not to make the ad, and Axios reported internal Republican polling showing him falling further behind.

The right-leaning Daily Mail leads with the stepsister's tearful, on-the-record-but-unnamed account from her Youngstown porch, framing the ad as having backfired. It also gives space to Ramaswamy's Thornville remarks and Donna Arthur's "liar" accusation. The left-leaning New Republic and HuffPost build on that account but focus on the campaign's internal doubts. HuffPost, citing Zeteo, relays an unnamed Trump adviser, a senior Ohio Republican, lieutenant governor candidate Robert McColley, and staffers who considered resigning. It also notes the mother was reportedly living in her car near Boalsburg, Pennsylvania. The New Republic uses sharper language, calling the ad a smear and the attacks revolting. Both sides agree on the stepsister's claims and on the ad's central role. They differ in emphasis: the Daily Mail on the new family testimony, the left on moral condemnation and ignored warnings. Alternative outlets add distinct angles: Axios on the polling, and Reason on Trump saying his only regret is not running such an ad.