Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign confirmed late Tuesday that it made a one-minute ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, and said it will spend $4 million to air it. The announcement came after a day of bipartisan criticism of the video, the Associated Press reported.
The ad began circulating overnight, two weeks before Election Day, in Ohio’s tight race for governor.
What the ad shows
The video features Donna Arthur, Acton’s birth mother. In it, she calls her daughter a liar and implies that Acton has mental health problems. Acton, a former Ohio public health director, has spoken openly about being homeless as a child and about surviving sexual abuse. She told Spectrum News she was taken from her mother at age 12 because of severe abuse and neglect.
Acton spent Tuesday condemning the video and said she would not accept a candidate who treats her childhood as a talking point. She also accused Ramaswamy of a “lifelong pattern” of personal attacks, pointing to similar criticism during his run for the Republican presidential nomination.
Who made it, and how it surfaced
The ad first appeared in a post by an Ohio political blogger who writes as “The Rooster,” D.J. Brynes. He told CNN he got the video from a voter who recorded it while taking a poll. The clip did not carry the “paid for” tag that legally must appear on a television ad, which left its source unclear for most of the day.
Ramaswamy’s campaign first released a statement that did not say whether he was responsible or knew who produced it. It said Acton “has some serious problems with the truth.” Later, campaign spokesperson Connie Luck confirmed the campaign made the ad and said it would run online and on television in the closing days. She said Arthur was not paid to appear.
The race
Ramaswamy, a Trump-backed biotech billionaire and 2024 presidential candidate, has benefited from more than $120 million in spending on his behalf. Polls and analysts describe the contest as close, and Ohio is among the states we flagged in our look at where the close governor races are.
The ad arrives as both parties heavily court Ohio voters. President Donald Trump rallied for Republican candidates in the state, and former President Barack Obama is set to campaign with Ohio Democrats.
Election Day is Nov. 3. Ramaswamy’s campaign has not said when the $4 million buy begins.
