A Mother on Camera, A Campaign in Crisis

The Ad Appears

The video showed up on social media on Oct. 19, and by the next day it was impossible to ignore. In sixty seconds, Donna Arthur, the estranged mother of Democratic gubernatorial nominee Dr. Amy Acton, looked into the camera and said her daughter was a liar. She said Acton had lied about her past, said she grew up living in a tent, and insisted none of that was true. She said her daughter had a serious problem, that she lies her entire life, that she needs help and can’t help anyone else if she needs help herself.

The campaign of Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican running for governor, claimed responsibility the day after it surfaced. Ramaswamy told reporters his campaign had produced it and planned to spend $4 million airing it across the state. Ad tracking showed only $2,116 had been spent to air the ad on Oct. 20. The race is considered a toss-up, according to the Cook Political Report.

The reaction was immediate and cross-partisan. Amy Acton, who previously served as director of the Ohio Department of Health, called the spot despicable. At a campaign stop she said she had never attacked Ramaswamy’s family, she would never do that, and she noted that so many people have experienced trauma and abuse in their lives. The editorial board of The Columbus Dispatch endorsed Acton after the ad dropped, describing it as revolting and unsettling.

What the Records Show

Acton has spoken before about the hardships she endured as a child. In a 2019 profile by the Youngstown Vindicator she said her biological parents divorced when she was 3, leaving her and her brother in the custody of her mother. She described cycling through a series of different homes in the following years, including a tent at a campground outside Youngstown one winter. By that point her mother had remarried.

Acton told the Vindicator that her stepfather sexually abused her. When she was 12 she went to live with her biological father. She said she has not seen or spoken to her mother since a court appearance after her stepfather’s 1978 arrest.

Court documents and contemporaneous news accounts corroborate key elements of her account. Cledith Arthur was charged with rape in July 1978 after Acton’s biological father reported that Arthur had sexually abused her. He pleaded not guilty and was indicted by a grand jury that September. The Youngstown Vindicator reported on the arrest at the time. The case never went to trial because the Arthurs left town without notifying authorities. After Cledith Arthur failed to appear for a court date in October 1978, a Mahoning County judge issued a warrant for his arrest, writing that it appears the defendant has willfully vacated his last known address and has failed to provide any forwarding address and his present whereabouts are unknown. Another warrant was issued in 1981, and records show authorities were looking for him as late as 1983.

In a 2020 interview with the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, Donna Arthur indicated she and her husband skipped town to avoid a trial. The article said Donna borrowed $10,000 from her father and hired an attorney who recommended she and Cledith move away for a while until things could calm down and charges could be dropped.

Acton’s campaign pointed to a 1982 police report documenting an interview with an Ohio campground manager who said Cledith Arthur had lived there some years earlier. Arrest paperwork from 1978 also lists that campground as Arthur’s address.

Acton’s younger brother, Philip Stearns, backed her account. In a statement released Oct. 20 he said 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. 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. In a response ad the campaign released the same day, Stearns described repeated childhood abuse. I received a lot of abuse, but Amy always got the worst of it, he said. She continued to receive that abuse because she knew she had to protect me, and that if she hadn’t done that, who knows where I would have ended up.

A Party Divided

Republicans in Ohio split openly over the spot. Ohio Sen. Jon Husted said he would not have run that ad. Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose said he probably wouldn’t run an ad like that, but every candidate gets to make their own decision. His office said it was reviewing complaints about the ad, which may have initially aired without a legally required disclaimer to tell viewers who paid for it.

Vice President JD Vance, an Ohio native, defended the ad. He said he was a little bit disgusted by criticism from members of his own party and told Republicans to stop whining about the advertisement. Whether the ad was appropriate or not is not really my concern, he said.

Former Republican Congressman Jim Renacci wrote on X that the floor may have just fallen out from under the Republican campaign for Ohio Governor, and any Republican who fails to distance themselves from this ad risks taking on water as well. Ohio Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou posted that the final days of a tough campaign are always the best time to find out who is really with you and who just posts and pretends. Yes—we are keeping score, he wrote.

At a rally in Iowa late on Thursday, President Donald Trump sought to defend the ad and Ramaswamy on social media. He advised Ramaswamy that you gotta ride with it, and added, Leave it up, and look upstairs and say, Thank you God, very much. Trump said the press has ganged up on Amy Acton’s estranged mother, and posted that Vivek should keep it up, and 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. The ad in question does not discuss cheating or stealing.

Republican Senate candidate Ashley Hinson denounced the ad ahead of Trump’s appearance, saying it is absolutely terrible and they should take the ad down.

The Governor Breaks

The most consequential blow came from within the party. Outgoing Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who endorsed Ramaswamy, called the ad deeply, deeply troubling. At the Ohio Statehouse he said it is wrong to run this ad, and even at this late time — my wife, Fran, saw the ad just run this morning on TV — I would just urge the Ramaswamy campaign to take this down.

DeWine recalled the painful experiences of rape victims he dealt with as a county prosecutor and state attorney general. He noted that family members have always historically been off limits, and pointed out that the Acton campaign earlier this year mentioned Ramaswamy’s mother’s involvement in an alleged pump and dump scheme, though with less prominence than the Ramaswamy ad.

Trump issued a swift rebuke on Truth Social, excoriating DeWine for disloyalty to the Republican party and saying he probably wants a Democrat to win. DeWine nonetheless declined to drop his endorsement, saying he wanted to support the full ticket of Republican candidates in the midterms.

The ad has already altered the race’s narrative. A poll by VoteHub released on Thursday suggested Acton was leading Ramaswamy by 1 percent, within the margin of error, and the surveys were done before the ad. If Acton wins, she would be the first Democrat elected as Ohio governor in two decades.

What Voters Are Hearing

Donna Arthur’s voice fills the ad. She says 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. The ad does not mention the sexual abuse allegations, though Arthur has done so in the past.

The campaign’s defense rests on the claim that someone who knows Acton well says the same thing. Ramaswamy said this is part of a pattern, someone else who appears to know her well who says the same thing, and I do think that is important for voters to take all of that into account.

Acton’s campaign framed the moment as a test of boundaries. She said she has never attacked his family. I would never do that. Her brother’s response ad put a human face on the history: two children removed from their mother’s custody after their stepfather was arrested, a mother who stayed married to the man, and a lifelong estrangement that dates to a courtroom in 1978.

The controversy has drawn outside support for Acton. MK Pritzker, the wife of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, announced she would donate $500,000 to help Acton in the election.

In Ohio’s closing campaign days, the ad remains on the air, the backlash continues, and the Republican establishment is left to decide whether the fight for a toss-up governor’s race is worth the cost of using an estranged mother to make the case.