Ramaswamy Campaign Ad Deepens GOP Panic in Ohio Governor Race
- Gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy launched a controversial $4 million campaign ad featuring his opponent Amy Acton’s estranged mother, triggering swift bipartisan backlash across Ohio and Washington.
- The ad spotlights Amy Acton’s mother, who has not spoken to the Democratic nominee since 1978 when she defended Acton's stepfather after he was indicted for raping Acton...
- I’m a little bit disgusted when I see Republicans across the country who are whining more about that advertisement than they are about what the congressional Democrats and...
Gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy launched a controversial $4 million campaign ad featuring his opponent Amy Acton’s estranged mother, triggering swift bipartisan backlash across Ohio and Washington. Publicly, Vice President J.D. Vance defended the strategy as a gamechanging October surprise, while privately, old-guard Republicans were baffled that Ramaswamy would dare to deploy Democratic nominee Amy Acton’s own mother, according to reporting by TIME, Yahoo News, and DNyuz.
Ramaswamy Deploys Estranged Mother in High-Stakes Ad
The ad spotlights Amy Acton’s mother, who has not spoken to the Democratic nominee since 1978 when she defended Acton’s stepfather after he was indicted for raping Acton as a child. Ramaswamy’s campaign allocated $4 million to broadcast the spot, targeting persuadable voters in the final weeks of the race, TIME reported. Recent polling from Marist University showed Acton leading by seven points in a state where Donald Trump previously won three times by margins of at least eight points. If elected, Acton would become Ohio’s first Democratic governor since 2007.
Bipartisan Backlash Splits Republican Leadership
The strategy immediately fractured Republican ranks. While campaigning in Cincinnati, Vice President J.D. I’m a little bit disgusted when I see Republicans across the country who are whining more about that advertisement than they are about what the congressional Democrats and other Democrats want to do to the United States of America,
Vance told reporters, as reported by TIME and Yahoo News. Conversely, other prominent Republicans condemned the move. I don’t have to agree with Amy Acton’s politics to believe that exploiting someone’s childhood trauma is wrong,
wrote Lydia Mihalik, a member of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s Cabinet, according to DNyuz. Strategist Mike Murphy called the campaign move as looking more and more like political suicide, while former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley labeled Ramaswamy a bad guy in coverage shared across TIME, Yahoo News, and DNyuz.
Ohio Republicans Express Panic Up and Down the Ballot
The controversy rippled across other competitive contests in the state, drawing concern from candidates facing tight races. I would not have run that ad,
Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who is running for re-election against Sherrod Brown, told The Associated Press. The Columbus Dispatch also condemned the video in an editorial endorsement published, stating that sexual violence against children should not be politicized.
Acton Campaign Fires Back With Sibling Response
In response to Ramaswamy’s campaign ad, Acton’s team released a 30-second spot, featuring her brother, Phil Stearns. I received a lot of abuse, but Amy always got the worst of it,
Stearns says in the ad, according to TIME and Yahoo News. She was 11- and 12-years-old, and to think that that’s somehow a talking point—shame on Vivek. The contempt he has for Amy is the contempt he has for Ohio. He’s not fit to lead.
As the election approaches, whether the multi-million dollar ad push persuades undecided voters or ultimately drives higher turnout and empathy for Acton remains open.