Ramaswamy pours $4 million into ad featuring Amy Acton’s estranged mother

Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is moving forward with a $4 million investment to run an ad featuring Democrat Amy Acton’s estranged mother after the video received fierce backlash.Ramaswamy’s campaign released a video featuring Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, who tells viewers not to vote for her daughter. Acton has alleged her mother stayed married to someone who sexually abused her when she was 12 years old. The video was quickly met with disdain from Acton, the Democratic Governors Association, and others.Despite the public outcry, Ramaswamy’s campaign continued to pour $4 million into airing the ad, with Axios reporting that Ramaswamy’s campaign said the ad surveyed well among “persuadable” voters. In the ad, Arthur called her daughter a liar and said she could not be trusted.“I love my daughter, but when I saw her lying about her opponent — it’s not easy for a mother to say this. But Amy has a serious problem. She is a liar. She lies about her past. She says she grew up living in a tent,” Arthur said. “None of that is true.”“My daughter needs help, and she can’t help you if she needs help herself. People can change, but first they have to tell the truth. And my daughter still isn’t doing that,” she continued. “Don’t vote for people who lie.”Acton’s campaign then released a response video featuring her brother, Philip Stearns, ripping Arthur for staying married to someone he said sexually abused Acton as a child. He described Arthur as an “estranged and abusive mother.”“I received a lot of abuse, but Amy always got the worst of it,” Stearns says in the ad. He said Acton endured abuse as a child to protect him, adding that she was only 11 or 12 years old at the time.“To think that that’s somehow a talking point, shame on Vivek,” Stearns said. “It’s the contempt he has for Amy. It’s the contempt he has for Ohio. He’s not fit to lead.”When the one-minute video initially hit social media, it was not immediately clear who or what organization circulated it. But Ramaswamy took ownership Tuesday night.“It is an ad from our campaign, and the thing that I want to say is that I would love for this race and this election to be about the substantive issues that impact Ohioans, and unfortunately, Amy Acton has been hiding from those issues,” Ramaswamy told reporters at a campaign event. “She won’t debate me.”OHIO AD FEATURING AMY ACTON’S ESTRANGED MOTHER BACKFIRES ON RAMASWAMY CAMPAIGN Acton has refused to debate Ramaswamy before voters head to the polls, previously citing her opponent’s “dishonest personal attacks and misleading advertising.”The two candidates are engaged in a tight race for the Ohio governor’s seat. Some of the latest polling has given Acton a 7-point lead, though others indicate the race is within the margin of error.