Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign for Ohio governor is spending $4 million on a one-minute ad in which Democrat Amy Acton’s estranged mother calls her a liar. On Thursday, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine called it “deeply, deeply troubling” and asked the campaign to take it down, the Associated Press reported.
DeWine has endorsed Ramaswamy. Vice President JD Vance is defending the ad. That leaves Ohio Republicans split 12 days before the November 3 election, in a race that was already close and where voting is well under way.
How the ad went from anonymous video to $4 million buy
The video first appeared on Monday night, October 19, in a post by an Ohio political blogger. He told CNN a voter had recorded it while taking a poll. It carried no “paid for by” line, and its origin was unclear, according to CBS News.
In it, Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, says “she is a liar; she lies about her past,” and urges Ohioans not to elect her. On Tuesday, campaign spokesperson Connie Luck at first didn’t say whether the campaign was behind it. She called Acton “a serial fabulist who has some serious problems with the truth,” WOSU reported.
Later that day Ramaswamy settled it. “It is an ad from our campaign,” he told reporters. That night the campaign said it would spend $4 million to run it on TV and streaming, CNN reported.
V-PAC, the main super PAC backing Ramaswamy, said it did not make the video. Luck said Arthur was not paid, AP reported.
What Acton has said about her mother
Acton, a physician, was DeWine’s state health director during the pandemic. She has spoken publicly about her childhood since 2019. This week she told Spectrum News she was removed from her mother at age 12 “for severe abuse and neglect, and sexual abuse,” AP reported.
She has said her stepfather abused her. Court records provided by her campaign show he was arrested in July 1978 and indicted that September.
On Tuesday, she told WOSU that “it’s awful to see her this way.” She said Ramaswamy “has taken advantage of someone who’s clearly not well.” On Wednesday she called the ad “despicable, but it’s exactly like he has been the entire campaign,” WTVG reported. Her brother, Philip Stearns, said Ramaswamy had “stooped to such a despicable low.”
The Republicans who objected, and those who didn’t
Criticism from Ramaswamy’s own party has come in degrees. Sen. Jon Husted, who faces Democrat Sherrod Brown on the same ballot, said: “I would not have run that ad.” Secretary of State Frank LaRose said he “probably wouldn’t run an ad like that,” CNN reported.
Lydia Mihalik, a member of DeWine’s Cabinet, wrote on X: “We can disagree on plenty of things without losing our sense of decency.” Nikki Haley, Ramaswamy’s 2024 primary rival, wrote that “it’s a shame he continues to get away with it.”
Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina called it “the most shameful, disgusting, offensive ad this election season,” NBC News reported. Brown, a Democrat, called it “disgusting.”
DeWine went furthest on Thursday. “It’s wrong to run this ad,” he said at the Statehouse. “I would urge Ramaswamy’s campaign to take this down.” AP noted that this puts him at odds with the candidate he endorsed.
The defense has come from the top. In Cincinnati on Wednesday, Vance said whether the ad “was appropriate or not is not really my concern.” He told Republicans to “stop whining about an advertisement and go win the race in 13 days.”
President Trump endorsed Ramaswamy back in November 2025. He said he “didn’t know anything about it” and called it “a very unusual situation.”
Ramaswamy hasn’t backed down. “Every person who appears to know her the best … have told voters not to vote for her but to vote for me instead,” he told reporters, according to CBS. He also pointed to Acton declining to debate him. “She won’t debate me,” he said, Cleveland 19 reported.
No poll has measured the ad yet
Republicans are really arguing about whether the ad moves votes. No public poll can answer that yet. Every recent survey with published dates that we found finished before the video surfaced.
| Poll | Fieldwork | Acton | Ramaswamy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marist, likely voters | Oct 15–18 | 50% | 43% |
| Fox News, likely voters | Oct 15–19 | 50% | 48% |
| Silver Bulletin average | As of Oct 21 | 48.7% | 44.0% |
Fox says its poll was completed before the ad became public. So far the only post-ad shift is a forecast, not a poll.
On Thursday, Sabato’s Crystal Ball moved the race from Toss-up to Leans Democratic. It cited Acton’s polling lead, and its analysts said they doubt the ad helps Ramaswamy.
The same analysts gave a caution that cuts the other way. In 2018, Democrat Richard Cordray led DeWine 46–43 in the polling average. DeWine won by nearly four points.
Timing also limits what $4 million can do. More than 676,000 Ohioans had already cast ballots by Wednesday, AP reported. Our guide to Election Day and voter registration explains how early and in-person voting work.
The first polls with fieldwork after October 19 will be the first real test of the ad. Until then, it stays on air unless the campaign takes DeWine’s advice before November 3.