Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign will no longer air a controversial ad that features Democrat Amy Acton’s estranged mother saying her daughter is a “liar” and “needs help.”
After more than a week of rebukes from both Republicans and Democrats over the content of the ad, Ramaswamy told The Columbus Dispatch that the broadcast spot “ran to completion” as of Oct. 29.
As of Thursday, Ramaswamy’s campaign had spent about $1 million to air the advertisement, though it was originally slated to run through Election Day as part of a $4 million reservation, according to AdImpact data.
Acton has accused her now-deceased stepfather, Cledith Arthur, of sexually abusing her as a child. Donna Arthur, who subsequently lost custody of Acton and stayed with her late husband for years, accuses Acton of lying about her past in the ad.
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“Don’t vote for people who lie,” Arthur says. “Don’t let her become your governor.”
The spot conjured a wave of condemnation from Ohio politicians hailing from Ramaswamy’s own party: Outgoing Gov. Mike DeWine urged Ramaswamy to take it down, calling it “despicable” and “deeply, deeply troubling,” and Sen. Jon Husted also distanced himself from the commercial.
But President Donald Trump came to the Republican hopeful’s defense last week, asking in a Truth Social post: “Who wouldn’t use such an ad? I would, it’s called, ‘hitting pay dirt.’” Vice President JD Vance similarly told his party members to “stop whining” about the spot.
Addie Bullock, a spokesperson for Acton’s campaign, called Ramaswamy an “out-of-touch, self-serving billionaire” who will harm anyone to “get what he wants.”
“Vivek Ramaswamy should never have run his despicable ad in the first place, and it’s totally unsurprising that he took it off the air in the most cowardly way possible, without even the hint of an apology to Dr. Acton, her family, or to the people of Ohio,” Bullock said in a statement Thursday.
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