Ramaswamy's called out for sketchy ethics omissions as outrage over new ad grows

A video attacking Democrat Amy Acton in Ohio’s governor’s race lacks the “paid for” tags political ads normally carry, and no one has said who made it, HuffPost reported on Tuesday.

The video, a little over a minute long, features Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, calling her daughter a “liar” and telling voters not to support her. HuffPost says it isn’t clear whether Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign or an allied PAC made it. It hasn’t aired on TV and can’t be found in the Meta or Google political ad archives.

Ramaswamy’s campaign neither took credit for the video nor distanced itself. Spokesperson Connie Luck said the campaign doesn’t know what passed between Acton and her mother, but called Acton a “serial fabulist” and said Ohioans “deserve to know” what those closest to her say.

Acton’s campaign, meanwhile, points the finger at Ramaswamy’s team.

The video also leaves out key background. Arthur’s husband, Cledith “Bud” Arthur, was arrested in 1978 on a rape charge involving Acton as a child, and Arthur left the state with him, after which Acton and her brother went into foster care. She remained married to him until his death in 2004. In the video, Arthur says her daughter exaggerated her difficult childhood, but court records show he was charged and that Acton testified, undercutting Arthur’s 2020 assertion that he never was.

Acton’s brother, Philip Stearns, called the attack “despicable.” The Democratic Governors Association said Ramaswamy “should be ashamed of himself.”

HuffPost noted the Ramaswamy campaign recently removed a property-tax ad that included footage of a man who is a registered sex offender.