The $4 million in TV and digital ads Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy released Tuesday are causing controversy, as other candidates for office, party officials and political groups weigh in or stay out.
The ad features the mother of Democratic candidate for governor Amy Acton, claiming that Acton is lying when she talks about surviving an abusive childhood, and urging Ohioans not to vote for her. Throughout her campaign, Acton has openly discussed being sexually abused and occasionally homeless growing up in Youngstown. Court and law enforcement records show Donna Arthur's husband Cledith was accused of sexually assaulting Acton when she was 12 years old, and Acton and her brother were removed from Arthur's custody. Cledith Arthur left the state before being tried on those allegations and died in 2004 still married to Acton's mother. Ramaswamy has taken credit for the ad, which was leaked Monday night without a "paid for by" disclaimer.
A national left-leaning group that speaks largely to women said the ad is driving support toward Acton.
“What we are hearing from our members across the state is that they are seeing their friends, Democrats and Republicans alike, saying that this ad goes way too far," said Katie Paris, founder of the group Red Wine & Blue. "They are seeing that in their group chats, in their social media feeds.”
Paris had harsh words for Ramaswamy and his decision to release the ad.
“It takes a very weak man to use a woman's pain to try to make himself feel strong. I think that these ads are running because Vivek Ramaswamy knows that his campaign is in real trouble," Paris said. "And I now think because of this ad, he is going to lose.”
Paris called on Gov. Mike DeWine and other Republicans to speak out publicly against the ads.
On Tuesday, DeWine's appointed director of the Ohio Department of Development Lydia Mihalik was one of the first prominent Ohio Republicans to do that. On Tuesday, she wrote on X: "There are lines we shouldn't cross and this is one of them. We can disagree on plenty of things without losing our sense of decency." She followed up with a second post featuring a photo of her family on Wednesday, writing "[s]ome things are simply bigger than politics."
Former House Speaker Ryan Smith followed her lead, sharing a video of Vice President JD Vance saying he was concerned about fellow Republican "whining" more about the ad "than about what Democrats want to do."
"Stop normalizing bad behavior and embarrassing the party," Smith wrote.
Both U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, in his first race for that seat since being appointed to replace Vance, and Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who's running for state auditor. have said they would not have run the ad.
Well-known Republicans and conservative influencers such as Donald Trump Jr., Laura Loomer and Dinesh D'Souza shared the ad initially. Others have defended it since Ramaswamy claimed it as his.
Acton released a response ad on her website Tuesday night, featuring her brother Phil Stearns refuting Arthur's claims and defending his sister. It's unclear where and when the ad might air, but Acton is said to have raised a significant amount of money after the ad started circulating, including a $500,000 donation from First Lady of Illinois MK Pritzker.
Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Dayton Christopher Devine noted Acton has talked about the tragedies in her past during her campaign. And Devine said this ad generates more media attention toward that narrative.
"There are of course deep problems with this given the context of the ad if anybody knows the backstory. And surely the Ramaswamy campaign should have calculated this is gonna generate a lot of additional news stories, including clarifications on the background here," Devine said in an interview. "There's good reason to think that, based on that backstory, this ad could really backfire."
But Devine said he doesn't think this will make a huge difference in the minds of many voters. Polls show most likely voters have made up their minds who they'll cast ballots for, and more than 764,000 Ohioans have already voted early.
"Very few people are actually undecided this late in a race—in a high-profile governor's race in this case. Most people in any given election pretty much know off the bat how they're going to vote if they don't admit it, based on the party label," Devine said. "There are some people who will stay undecided for a while, but two weeks out from the campaign or from election day, many people have already voted early in-person or through absentee ballots. So there aren't a lot of voters left to move."
Limited polling had shown Acton with a slight lead over Ramaswamy or the race virtually tied before the ad leaked. Prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket showed Acton's chances of winning above 70%. And those odds have increased since the ad surfaced on social media.
