Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign for Ohio governor is facing a growing political firestorm after a controversial attack ad targeting Democratic rival Dr. Amy Acton triggered bipartisan condemnation, prompted venues to cancel campaign events, and pushed Ohio’s largest newspaper to break with its usual endorsement policy to back his opponent.
With Election Day less than two weeks away and the race still tight, the MAGA Republican is facing a wave of backlash that threatens to overshadow his campaign’s message and policy agenda.
The controversy centers on a 30-second ad released by Ramaswamy’s campaign last week. The spot features Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur, calling her daughter a “liar” and urging Ohio voters not to support her.
Critics from both parties have condemned the decision to drag Acton’s painful family history into the campaign. And the fallout is no longer limited to angry statements: campaign appearances have been canceled, prominent Republicans have spoken out, and a major newspaper has made an unusual move to endorse Acton.
On Sunday, The Plain Dealer, Ohio’s largest newspaper, broke with its policy of not endorsing candidates in major races to throw its support behind Acton.
The paper’s editorial board delivered a blistering assessment of Ramaswamy’s ad, accusing his campaign of exploiting the sexual abuse Acton experienced as a child.
“Vivek Ramaswamy, seeking the highest office in this state, has produced a campaign advertisement that weaponizes the sexual abuse his opponent, Amy Acton, suffered as a child,” the board wrote.
“There are moments when a community must decide what it stands for, when its institutions have a duty to speak and when silence itself becomes a statement,” the editorial continued.
The decision to break from its normal endorsement policy underscored the seriousness with which the newspaper viewed the controversy.
The backlash has also hit Ramaswamy’s campaign schedule.
According to Newsweek, Old Dog Ale House & Brewery in Delaware canceled a campaign event scheduled for Friday. Elliot’s Wood Fired Kitchen in Newark also said it would not host Ramaswamy’s planned Tuesday appearance.
The Ohio Republican Party has indicated that both appearances would be rescheduled.
The cancellations add another complication for a candidate trying to reach voters in the final stretch of a closely watched race.
Ramaswamy has acknowledged that his campaign produced the ad and has defended it as legitimate. He argues that Acton has avoided discussing substantive issues affecting Ohioans.
But that argument has done little to stop the controversy from spreading.
The ad has drawn criticism from Republicans as well as Democrats, putting Ramaswamy at odds with members of his own party.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has condemned the spot and called for it to be taken down.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who competed against Ramaswamy in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries and later served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during Trump’s first administration, also took aim at him.
“He’s a bad guy,” Haley said. “It’s a shame he continues to get away with it.”
The criticism is particularly notable for Ramaswamy, who has built his political profile as a prominent MAGA Republican and has received support from President Donald Trump.
Trump, however, has defended the ad, praising it as “very powerful” in a Truth Social post and attacking the media and Republicans who called for it to be removed.
“Frankly, anybody whose mother spoke about a daughter in that way would normally lead to the daughter being precluded from serving in Office, let alone the Office of Governor,” Trump wrote.
The divide leaves Ramaswamy facing a backlash from some Republicans even as Trump stands firmly behind him.
Acton has strongly rejected the campaign’s use of her estranged mother in the ad.
She has said she has not spoken to Arthur in decades. According to the report, Arthur lost custody of her children after her husband was indicted on a charge of raping Acton. He was never prosecuted on that charge before he died after the couple fled the state.
Acton has described experiencing severe abuse and neglect during her childhood and says she was removed from her birth mother’s care at age 12.
“I won’t normalize somebody who has said that my childhood is just something I’m 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, and sexual abuse,” Acton told a local news outlet last week.
Ramaswamy, meanwhile, has escalated his personal attacks, calling her “crazy, unstable and dishonest.”
The campaign has not backed away from the ad despite the growing criticism and says Ramaswamy wants the race to focus on issues affecting Ohioans. But with a major newspaper endorsing Acton, campaign venues canceling appearances, and prominent Republicans condemning the ad, his campaign is increasingly being forced to answer for its tactics.
Trump’s support gives Ramaswamy a powerful ally, but it has not stopped the controversy from spreading across the state’s political landscape.
