Amy Acton, Ohio’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate, denounced an attack ad Tuesday that features her estranged mother, who was married to a man accused of sexually abusing Acton when she was a child.
The ad, which does not include a disclaimer about who paid for it, began appearing on social media Monday evening. Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, reportedly sided with Acton’s stepfather, Cledith Arthur, after he was charged with raping Acton when Acton was still a child. Cledith Arthur died in 2004.
“I won’t normalize somebody who has said that my childhood is something I’m just complaining about, who today just released an ad using my birth mother who I was removed from at the age of 12 for severe abuse and neglect,” Acton said in a clip of an appearance on Spectrum News that was posted to social media.
She blamed her Republican opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy, for the ad and framed it as part of a broader trend, reminiscent of Ramaswamy’s comments during the GOP presidential primary debates in 2023 when he was a candidate. In one debate, Ramaswamy targeted Nikki Haley’s daughter for using TikTok after Haley had criticized Ramaswamy for using the app.
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“This is a lifelong pattern with my opponent,” Acton said in a clip.
In campaign videos, Acton has described a childhood marked by homelessness and sexual abuse. She and her mother have both said they have not seen each other in nearly 50 years; the last time was the day Acton appeared in court after her stepfather was charged.
Donna Arthur in the ad says that Acton is a “liar” who would make the lives of Ohioans “worse.” While she does not address Acton’s allegations of sexual abuse, she says that Acton lied about experiencing homelessness.
“She lies about her past. She says she grew up living in a tent,” Donna Arthur said. “None of that is true, she’s lied her entire life. My daughter needs help.”
A statement from the Ramaswamy campaign did not address the ad’s origins.
“We don’t know what happened between Amy and her mother, who first spoke out about Amy in 2020, but we know that Amy Acton is a serial fabulist who has some serious problems with the truth that the public needs to be aware of before deciding who to entrust as governor,” campaign spokesperson Connie Luck said in a statement provided to The Washington Sun.
Polling has been split in the high-profile race for governor, but the race has trended in Acton’s favor in recent weeks. A Marist Poll released Tuesday found Acton leading Ramaswamy by 7 percentage points, while a New York Times poll from Oct. 4 placed the lead at around 4 percentage points.
In a video of a campaign speech posted to Ramaswamy’s social media earlier this year, Ramaswamy called on Ohio voters to elect someone with “a positive vision for our state, versus a governor who has none at all other than to complain about what someone else did to her.”
Acton’s campaign released a statement by her brother, Philip Stearns, calling the new ad a “despicable low” for Ramaswamy.
“To attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at twelve years old from our birth mother’s husband into a political talking point,” Stearns said. “This desperate, disgusting attack reveals exactly who Vivek Ramaswamy is at his core — a pathetic excuse for a man who is willing to hurt anyone as long as it gets him what he wants.”
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