Ramaswamy faces backlash after an attack ad features Amy Acton’s estranged mother, who allegedly stayed with the man who sexually abused her daughter and fled town with him after his arrest
Vivek Ramaswamy latest attack on Democratic Ohio gubernatorial candidate Dr. Amy Acton features a woman accused of standing by the man who sexually abused her own daughter—and it has ignited a firestorm over one of the most disturbing political advertisements of the 2026 election.
The ad features Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur, accusing her own daughter of lying about sexual abuse and her troubled childhood in boarded up Youngstown, Ohio.
What the ad does not feature…context…is that Arthur remained married to the man who sexually abused Acton when she was just 12 years old—even after his arrest and the removal of both children from their custody, according to Acton’s brother, Philip Stearns.
The family’s history predates the current election by decades and was publicly described in a 2019 Youngstown Vindicator interview with Acton. Her mother subsequently acknowledged in a separate 2020 interview that she supported her husband during the proceedings involving her daughter’s rape accusation, borrowed money to hire an attorney and left town with him.
Arthur has denied that her husband sexually abused Acton. But her own account confirms that she sided with him during the allegations that ultimately separated her from both children. According to Stearns, she remained married to him until his death.