WASHINGTON — The Ohio gubernatorial race has taken a bitter and deeply personal turn following the release of a political advertisement featuring Democratic candidate Amy Acton’s birth mother, Donna Arthur, criticizing her daughter.
In the ad, Arthur publicly accused Acton of being a liar and urged voters to reject her candidacy in her race against Republican opponent Vivek Ramaswamy. The video targets Acton’s background and statements about her upbringing.
Acton’s campaign forcefully responded to the attack, accusing Ramaswamy of reaching a “despicable low” in the race by dredging up her painful past as a child sex abuse survivor. Acton has previously recounted her experiences, stating, “I was lucky that it got bad enough, because it got me out of there,” after enduring abuse by the man her mother married.
While Arthur accused Acton of embellishing her accusations and claimed the allegations were part of a custody dispute, the Democratic hopeful has maintained her account, noting that she spent a winter in a campground outside Youngstown and that her family eventually fled. Arthur accused Acton’s biological father of abuse, while Acton's campaign pointed to the trauma of her childhood.
The contentious clash marks one of the most aggressive turns in the gubernatorial election cycle as Acton and Ramaswamy compete for the Ohio governor's office.
