Ohio Republicans are struggling to find places willing to host Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign bus tour after his attack ad featuring Democrat Amy Acton’s estranged mother sparked bipartisan outrage, according to new reporting from Zeteo.
“We’re getting calls that people don’t want him there,” a top Ohio Republican told the outlet. The source said would-be hosts are wary of the blowback but wouldn’t identify them.
“It’s that damn ad,” the Republican said.
Ramaswamy’s campaign took ownership of the spot this week and pledged $4 million to put it on the air. In the ad, Acton’s birth mother, Donna Arthur, brands the Democrat “a liar.” Acton was 12 when her stepfather, Cledith Arthur, was charged in 1978 with raping her, according to police and court records reported on by The Washington Post. She and her brother were later taken out of their mother’s custody.
Zeteo has characterized the contest as “deeply vile and nasty.”
A Trump adviser told Zeteo the ad is “having a very negative impact on the tour,” including on GOP candidates who had “NOTHING to do with” it.
At least one host has already bailed. Old Dog Ale House & Brewery in Delaware, Ohio, canceled an event featuring the state’s Republican slate, USA Today Network reporter Jessie Balmert wrote on X, and the party has since lined up a different venue. Sources confirmed to Zeteo that the uproar was behind the cancellation.
Other stops appear to be in flux. A Sunday service at CrossPointe Church in Westerville has quietly vanished from the Ohio GOP’s bus tour page, Zeteo reported. Ramaswamy had defended the ad at a campaign event at the church on Tuesday. A planned Trumbull County stop is now missing a location altogether.
The backlash has crossed party lines. Casey Putsch, who lost the GOP primary to Ramaswamy, announced he’s backing Acton, calling the ad “pretty damn low.”
The Cook Political Report shifted the race from Toss Up to Lean Democrat on Friday, writing that the ad “confirmed that the race is slipping away from him.”
When Zeteo shared the new rating with a Trump White House official, the reply was two words: “Well f---.”
Old Dog Ale House & Brewery in Delaware was scheduled to hold an event with the Ohio GOP ticket Friday, but the business canceled it. Ohio GOP has selected a new location, a spokesman said.
— Jessie Balmert (@jbalmert) October 22, 2026