The congressional midterms aren’t the only elections happening in the United States. There are state and local elections too, including the contest for Governor of Ohio between Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton, the state’s former health director. Ramaswamy also ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.

The Ohio campaign has attracted national attention because of an ad produced by Ramaswamy’s campaign featuring Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur. In it, she calls her daughter a liar and disputes her account of childhood hardship, including living in a tent.

What the ad leaves out is why they are estranged.

In 1978, when Acton was 12, her stepfather, Cledith Arthur, was charged with raping her and subsequently indicted by a grand jury. Her mother fled with him to avoid the trial. They went on to live in Pennsylvania, and she remained married to him until his death in 2004. He never faced trial.

Acton and her younger brother were removed from their custody. Acton went to live with her biological father and says she has neither seen nor spoken to her mother since 1978. Her brother has publicly backed her account of their childhood abuse and condemned Ramaswamy’s campaign for exploiting it.

To be clear, the ad does not explicitly mention the rape allegation. It attacks Acton’s account of her childhood more broadly. However, her mother has previously accused her of lying about the rape, and court records and contemporary reporting corroborate key elements of Acton’s account of abuse and hardship.

The backlash has crossed party lines. Republican Governor Mike DeWine has urged Ramaswamy to take the ad down, and Republican Senator Jon Husted has said he would not have run it.

Yet President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have defended it, with Trump encouraging Ramaswamy to keep it running. His campaign has committed $4 million to broadcasting it.

In my opinion, this is the LOWEST political ad I have ever seen. Taking someone’s childhood abuse and family estrangement and using them as ammunition against her is absolutely disgraceful.

Real bottom-of-the-barrel stuff.

Below is a news report which has the context and blow back about the ad:

He’s pretty much being universally condemned for this but if there’s a silver lining, his female opponent now looks like almost a sure thing to beat him.

That's pretty damned scummy alright.

Vivek Ramaswamy, the repugnant Republican nominee for Ohio governor, confirmed on Thursday that his campaign is no longer airing an attack ad that features the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton.