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Vance Defends Ramaswamy’s Ad as Backlash Threatens Ohio Campaign
The vice president backed an advertisement featuring Democrat Amy Acton’s mother, who has been estranged from Dr. Acton since her stepfather was charged with child rape.
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Ramaswamy Backs Controversial Ohio Political Ad After BacklashOct. 21, 2026
Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday defended an ad featuring the estranged mother of the Democrat running for Ohio governor, Amy Acton, dismissing condemnation of it from even fellow Republicans as “whining.”
In the ad from Vivek Ramaswamy, Dr. Acton’s Republican opponent, the mother said her daughter had lied and exaggerated about her childhood struggles. The ad was met with outrage, given that the mother’s longtime husband, Dr. Acton’s stepfather, was charged with raping the candidate when she was 12, according to records produced by the Acton campaign.
Mr. Ramaswamy is putting $4 million behind the spot. Mr. Vance lauded it, saying it “calls it out like it is, and calls Amy Acton a liar.”
Child sexual abuse has been a surprisingly prevalent issue in the 2026 midterms. It has surfaced in Texas, where Democrats accused Attorney General Ken Paxton of treating a convicted abuser leniently; in Kansas, where Republicans said the Democratic candidate for Senate, Adam Hamilton, failed to respond to abuse accusations by a volunteer at his church; and in multiple races where Republican votes against releasing the Epstein files have become political fodder.
Even though Mr. Ramaswamy’s ad does not directly mention sexual abuse, it has brought it to the forefront of the Ohio governor’s race and whipped up national attention. In the ad, Donna Arthur, Dr. Acton’s mother, accused her daughter of lying about details she has relayed about a troubled childhood in which she was homeless for a time. During that period, Dr. Acton has said, she was sexually abused by her stepfather. She has said she and her mother have not spoken since she was 12, when Ms. Arthur lost custody of both her daughter and her son.
Documents provided by the Acton campaign this week show that a grand jury had indicted the candidate’s stepfather on charges of raping Dr. Acton in 1978, the year Ms. Arthur lost custody. The stepfather, Cledith Arthur, pleaded not guilty, and then fled the state before trial. He died in Pennsylvania in 2004.
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Source: The New York Times · Campbell Robertson, Bayliss Wagner
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