An ad featuring the estranged mother of Ohio Democrat Amy Acton has thrown a dramatic wrench in the state’s gubernatorial race just two weeks before Election Day, putting family drama and accusations of campaign malfeasance at the heart of the race for the governor’s mansion.
In the one-minute video, Donna Arthur urges Ohioans to reject her daughter at the ballot box, calling her a liar and accusing her of fabricating stories about her childhood.
“It’s not easy for a mother to say this, but Amy has a serious problem. She is a liar. She lies about her past. She says she grew up living in a tent. None of that is true. She’s lied her entire life,” Donna Arthur says. “Don’t vote for people who lie. Don’t let her become your governor. If you think she’ll make your life better, you’re fooling yourself. It will only get worse.”
The ad quickly caused a firestorm on X, where users began pointing out that Acton and her mother have long been estranged.
On Tuesday morning, Acton’s campaign condemned Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy over what it described as an “attempt to platform their estranged and abusive mother.” The Democratic campaign released a statement from Acton’s brother, Phillip Stearns.
“It is 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,” Stearns said. “After he was arrested and Amy and I were removed from their custody, our birth mother stayed married to Amy’s rapist until he died.”
Stearns argued that the ad says more about Ramaswamy than it does about Acton.
“This desperate, disgusting attack reveals exactly who Vivek Ramaswamy is at his core – a pathetic excuse for a man who is willing to hurt anyone as long as it gets him what he wants,” he said.
There is no evidence that Ramaswamy or his campaign were behind the ad, which does not identify when the video was produced, who financed it, or whether it is airing on television. Independent journalist Walter Curt posted the clip on X late Monday night.
Acton, a physician who served as director of the Ohio Department of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic, has previously described her childhood as “rough.”
“I am from Youngstown. I had a pretty rough childhood and experienced what it was like to live in a tent, to experience abuse and neglect, not have the heat on, not have a home,” Acton said in an interview with local outlet 19 News. “So that all motivated me to become a doctor.”
Acton has also described an “out of control” and “nomadic” childhood with her mother, saying she lived in more than a dozen different places during her first 12 years. According to Acton, she eventually moved in with her father and his relatives.
“I have so many crazy stories … I spent so much time being scared as a kid, but also navigating the adult world,” Acton told another local outlet.
“It’s hard to tell people about this because it makes kids uncomfortable,” she said of her childhood. “So you just keep it all in.”
Acton and Ramaswamy are locked in a tight race to succeed Ohio’s term-limited Republican Governor Mike DeWine, with Ramaswamy leading his Democrat opponent by just one point in the polls, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average. But with just two weeks until election day, the Cook Political Report lists the race as a toss-up.
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