Ramaswamy pulls attack ad featuring Amy Acton's estranged mother after Trump defends it

Ramaswamy confirms the ad is off the air

Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee for Ohio governor, confirmed on Thursday, 29 October, that his campaign no longer airs an attack ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton. He made the remark at a campaign stop in Vandalia, Ohio, saying the ad's planned run was over. The campaign had said it would spend $4 million on the spot, but AdImpact data showed about $1 million went toward it as of 29 October. A campaign official told The Washington Post that the spot had simply rotated off the air like any other ad.

“It ran to completion and we put up four other ads.”

Ramaswamy also said he wanted the final stretch of the race to be about policy, and he criticized Acton for not agreeing to debate him.

Campaign's initial plan4

AdImpact estimate as of 29 October1

Campaign's initial plan

4 US$ million

AdImpact estimate as of 29 October

1 US$ million

Data from the article text

What the ad showed

The spot shows Donna Arthur calling her daughter "a liar" and urging Ohioans not to vote for her. Acton, 60, has said her stepfather was charged with raping her when she was 12, and that her mother lost custody of her and her brother in 1978. Her stepfather pleaded not guilty and became a fugitive before trial, and her mother stayed married to him until his death in 2004. Acton and her mother have not been in contact since. The campaign later cut the original 60-second version, dropping a claim that Acton had lied about the family living in a tent. Court records from the time indicated her stepfather had lived in a tent when he was arrested.

Reaction from both parties and the White House

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, had called for the ad to come down, and Senator Jon Husted said he "would not have run" it. Many Republicans worried the spot could hurt other candidates on the Ohio ticket. Acton's campaign called the ad "despicable" and said Ramaswamy should have apologized. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance both backed the spot. Trump said he told Ramaswamy to keep it on the air and called the mother "fair game", while Vance told Republicans demanding its removal to stop "whining". In a social media post, Trump wrote:

“Who wouldn't use such an Ad? I would, it's called, 'hitting pay dirt,'”

The race in the final week

Acton, a former state health director and physician, told The Washington Post that the ad had dredged up a dark chapter of her life that she has not fully processed.

“I'm still learning. I'm 60 years old. I'm learning, and I'm sure at some point I'll be learning from everything I'm experiencing now.”

Acton linked her childhood to the drive that carried her into medicine and now into a run that would potentially make her Ohio's first woman governor. Less than a week before the 3 November election, most polls indicate the race is statistically tied. Ramaswamy, 41, who would be the nation's first Hindu governor, faced speculation before the ad that prejudice was undermining his bid. Interviews with more than a dozen voters in Monroe and Adams counties showed mixed feelings, and none said they would refuse to vote for an Indian American.