A Republican candidate sparks controversy with an election ad in Ohio

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Republican candidate for governor of Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy, faced a wave of criticism on Wednesday over an advertisement within his election campaign that showed the mother of his Democratic rival, Amy Acton, with whom he broke off relations, and whose husband was previously accused of raping Acton when she was a child.

Acton has not communicated with her mother, Donna Arthur, since her childhood, when she accused her then-husband of sexually abusing her for years, according to Agence France-Presse.

Meanwhile, in the ad, Arthur says that her daughter "lied her whole life." She adds: "Don't let her become your ruler. If you think she will make your life better, you are lying to yourself."

On Tuesday, Acton (60 years old) issued a statement in which she said that she and her brother suffered “abuse, hunger and neglect” when they were children.

She also added in her talk about her mother: “Between the ages of ten and twelve, I was sexually assaulted by her husband while my biological mother did nothing to protect me,” pointing out that she had not seen her since 1978.

Arthur's husband fled before he could stand trial on sexual assault charges and later died.

In addition, Acton considered it "unfortunate to see Vivek Ramaswamy exploiting my entire story for his own political gain."

In an open letter to The Columbus Dispatch, former Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman called the announcement “the most disgusting and degrading level I have witnessed in my 35-year political career.”

MK Pritzker, the wife of billionaire Democratic Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, also immediately announced a $500,000 donation to Acton's campaign.

Ramaswamy has the support of President Donald Trump, who merely said that Acton's mother "behaved in a way that was very out of the ordinary towards her daughter," and added that "the mother witnessed things as well. Who knows?"

While campaigning Wednesday in Ohio, Vice President J.D. Vance defended his "best friend" Ramaswamy.

“Now the media and Democrats in Ohio are obsessed with it, guess what? Because Vivek Ramaswamy dared to air a TV ad setting the record straight and calling Amy Acton a liar,” he said.

It is noteworthy that Ramaswamy, a billionaire biotechnology businessman who ran in the Republican Party presidential primaries in 2024, is facing Acton, a doctor and former director of the state health department, in the race for the next governorship of Ohio.

The results of the race are very close, according to the Cook Political Report.