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Amy Acton’s Estranged Mother Accuses Her of Lying in Ohio Ad

Ramaswamy’s campaign says the ad will air online and on TV despite bipartisan criticism and a lack of required source disclosure.

  • On Tuesday, a viral attack ad surfaced featuring Donna Arthur, estranged mother of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton, calling her daughter a "liar" and urging Ohio voters to reject her just two weeks before the November 3 election.
  • Court records from July 14, 1978, confirm Acton's stepfather, Cledith Arthur, was arrested for raping his 12-year-old stepdaughter, leading to family estrangement and Acton's documented accounts of poverty, neglect, and homelessness that her mother now disputes.
  • Acton's brother, Philip Stearns, denounced the ad as a "desperate, disgusting attack" on Tuesday, accusing Republican opponent Vivek Ramaswamy of exploiting his sister's childhood sexual abuse while noting their mother remained married to the abuser until his death.
  • Ramaswamy's campaign confirmed Tuesday it spent $4 million on the statewide ad, sparking bipartisan outrage as strategist Liz Mair called it "terrible" and warned the tactic could backfire with voters.
  • A Marist University poll released Friday shows Acton leading Ramaswamy 50% to 44%, as campaigns monitor whether this personal attack shifts narrow margins before Election Day on November 3.
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Right

This is Donna Arthur, mother of Democrat Amy Acton, whose statements were published in an unauthored video that soon went viral on social media.

Center

The contest for Ohio's governorship has been shaken by a new video in which the distant mother of Democratic candidate Amy Acton urges people not to vote for her.

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The Columbus Dispatch broke the news in Columbus, United States on Tuesday, October 20, 2026.
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