Ramaswamy's ad using Acton's estranged mother splits Ohio GOP and rattles the governor's race
With two weeks to go, Vivek Ramaswamy's $4 million attack ad featuring Amy Acton's estranged mother — whose husband was charged with raping Acton as a child — has united Republicans in condemnation and moved forecasters toward the Democrat.
Eleven days before Ohio votes for governor, Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign confirmed it had produced and would spend $4 million airing a one-minute ad in which Amy Acton's estranged mother, Donna Arthur, calls her daughter a liar and urges Ohioans not to vote for her. The backstory the campaign did not lead with: Acton has not spoken to her mother since 1978, when her stepfather was indicted on a felony rape charge for allegedly sexually assaulting Acton as a child. He died in 2004 without facing prosecution. Arthur remained married to him until his death.
The ad's release — which leaked before the campaign claimed credit for it — set off a chain reaction inside the Ohio Republican Party that has left Ramaswamy more isolated, Acton better positioned in the polls, and Vice President JD Vance defending a decision that even the sitting Republican governor called simply wrong.
It's just wrong.— Mike DeWine, Ohio Governor (R)
DeWine urged the Ramaswamy campaign to take the ad down, though he said he is keeping his endorsement. Ohio Senate President and Ramaswamy running mate Rob McColley, Secretary of State Frank LaRose, and Sen. Jon Husted — who holds Vance's former Senate seat and is fighting his own tight race against Democrat Sherrod Brown — all said they would not have run it. Warren County Republican commissioner Shannon Jones wrote on X that 'we have lost our humanity.' Casey Putsch, who ran against Ramaswamy in the primary, said he will vote for Acton. Libertarian candidate Don Kissick called on Ramaswamy to withdraw entirely.
It's not surprising that Vivek Ramaswamy has stooped to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at twelve years old from our birth mother's husband into a political talking point. After he was arrested and Amy and I were removed from custody, our birth mother stayed married to Amy's rapist until he died.— Philip Stearns, Amy Acton's brother
Acton's campaign had clearly prepared for the possibility. Within hours of the ad surfacing, it released a video of Stearns backing his sister's account. Campaign spokesperson Addie Bullock called Ramaswamy's decision to promote the ad 'both despicable and entirely predictable.' By the time Ramaswamy's campaign formally claimed responsibility, more than 676,000 Ohioans had already cast early ballots.
Vance, who campaigned alongside Ramaswamy and Husted in Sharonville on October 21, took a sharply different line from his Ohio Republican colleagues. He said he was 'a little bit disgusted' — not by the ad, but by Republicans 'whining' about it. Trump, for his part, posted on Truth Social urging Ramaswamy to keep running it, writing that voters should 'let everyone listen to the mother of a defective, dishonest, and incapable Candidate, explain how the daughter is a DISASTER who, uncontrollably, lies, cheats, and steals.' Neither Trump nor Vance addressed the abuse allegations directly.
We don't know what happened between Amy and her mother ... but we know that Amy Acton is a serial fabulist.— Connie Luck, Ramaswamy campaign spokesperson
The reaction from political professionals was withering. David Cohen, a political science professor at the University of Akron, called the ad 'campaign malpractice' and predicted it would either push some Republicans to switch parties or, more likely, keep them home on Election Day — a problem that could drag down Husted's Senate race as well. Veteran pollster Frank Luntz called it a 'Hail Mary,' while acknowledging that Hail Marys occasionally connect. A national GOP strategist involved in Republican PAC spending decisions told New York magazine the party had been at 'DEFCON 1' for a month and that the ad raised a pointed question: 'Are you going to let a natural disaster sit for seven hours without talking about it? I just don't understand.'
The Columbus Dispatch, whose editorial board leans conservative, endorsed Acton on October 21, writing that 'it should go without saying that sexual violence against children should not be politicized or taken as lightly as Ramaswamy appears to take it.' Former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, dispensing with diplomatic niceties, called Ramaswamy 'a bad guy,' according to Newsweek.
The ad is the sharpest escalation in a race that was already the most expensive in Ohio gubernatorial history. Ramaswamy and his allies had run $101 million in ads against Acton by mid-October — $36 million of it Ramaswamy's own money — while Acton's side had spent roughly a third as much. Acton has refused to debate Ramaswamy throughout the campaign, a decision her campaign has maintained despite his repeated taunts, including one delivered onstage at Trump's October 12 Youngstown rally.
The polling picture, already uncomfortable for Ramaswamy, has shifted further since the ad broke. In the Silver Bulletin polling average as of Wednesday, Acton led 48.7% to 44.0% — a margin of roughly 4.7 points. An October Marist poll put her lead at 50% to 43% among likely voters, with independents breaking for her 53% to 34%. Sabato's Crystal Ball moved its rating from Toss-up to Lean Democratic on October 22, citing Acton's polling lead. Cook Political Report rates the race a Toss-up. Ramaswamy's campaign manager Jonathan Ewing had called the mother ad 'a campaign-ending moment for Amy Acton'; the available evidence points in the opposite direction.
The race's trajectory matters beyond Ohio. Ramaswamy's struggles have become a referendum on Vance's political judgment at a moment when the vice president is widely seen as positioning himself for a 2028 presidential run. The two are longtime friends, Yale Law School contemporaries, and products of southwestern Ohio. Vance has campaigned for Ramaswamy repeatedly. A strategist quoted by New York magazine put it plainly: Ramaswamy's decision-making 'really makes you wonder how he would be as governor.' For Vance, the question is whether defending that decision-making is the right posture for someone who wants to be seen as a more disciplined version of Trumpian politics.
Ohio has not elected a Democratic governor since Ted Strickland left office in 2011. Trump carried the state by 8 to 11 points in each of his three presidential runs. Ramaswamy entered the race with Trump's endorsement, the Ohio GOP's formal backing a year before the primary, and what one former high-ranking Ohio Republican official described as an aura of invincibility — 'just looked unbeatable.' That official told New York magazine the mood in Columbus after the ad surfaced was like 'when a bomb goes off, and it sucks up all the oxygen.'
Analysts warn that Ohio polls have historically understated Republican performance. In 2018, Republicans ran roughly six points better than October polling averages suggested in the state's top races. A similar shift would be enough to overcome Acton's current lead. But analysts at Rasmussen Reports noted that Acton is polling closer to 50% than the Democratic gubernatorial candidate was in 2018, and that 'a lot appears to be going right' for Democrats — including the broader environment created by Trump's unpopular war in Iran, rising gas prices, and tariff-driven economic uncertainty.
Election Day is November 3. Voters will also decide Issue 3, a constitutional amendment to enshrine Ohio's existing photo ID requirement for in-person voting — a measure both Ramaswamy and Acton support.
Why it matters — The ad controversy has shifted a nominally red state's governor's race toward the Democrat, threatens Republican turnout in a concurrent Senate race that could affect the chamber's balance of power, and has put Vance's political judgment under scrutiny as he positions himself for 2028.
⚠ Not yet confirmed
- Acton may be performing very slightly better than Sherrod Brown in their respective races, though the evidence is described as mixed.
- The Ramaswamy campaign claims the mother ad tested well among persuadable voters in focus groups.
- At least one Ohio GOP candidate privately asked Ramaswamy not to run the ad.
- Ramaswamy may face a 'racist penalty' in rural Ohio as an Indian American candidate.
Sources differ on Whether the mother ad will help or hurt Ramaswamy: Campaign manager Jonathan Ewing called it 'a campaign-ending moment for Amy Acton'; campaign says it tested well with persuadable voters. (multistate.us / newsweek.com) vs University of Akron professor David Cohen called it 'campaign malpractice'; national GOP strategist said it raises serious questions about Ramaswamy's judgment; Frank Luntz called it a 'Hail Mary.' (centraloregondaily.com / nymag.com / rasmussenreports.com)
Sources differ on Whether Ohio polls are accurately capturing the race: In 2018, Republicans ran ~6 points better than October polling averages in Ohio's top races, suggesting polls may understate Ramaswamy. (rasmussenreports.com) vs Acton is polling closer to 50% than the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial candidate was, and analysts note 'a lot appears to be going right' for Democrats. (rasmussenreports.com)
Reported by wsj.com, nbc4i.com, axios.com, multistate.us, centerforpolitics.org, newsweek.com, 270towin.com, nymag.com, rasmussenreports.com, centraloregondaily.com
