Vivek Ramaswamy is refusing to back away from a deeply personal attack on his gubernatorial rival, even as fellow Republicans sound the alarm.
The Ohio Republican's campaign is putting $4 million behind a statewide ad featuring Democrat Amy Acton's estranged mother, Donna Arthur, who accuses her daughter of lying about her upbringing, Axios reported Tuesday. Acton has said her mother took her stepfather's side after he sexually abused her when she was a child.
"She lies about her past," Arthur says in the minute-long spot. "She's lied her entire life."
Arthur also pushes back on Acton's account of being homeless as a child.
The ad first surfaced on social media late Monday with no disclaimer showing who paid for it. Ramaswamy's campaign later confirmed to Axios that it was behind the commercial, and sources close to the campaign said it performed well among "persuadable" voters in testing.
Acton, a physician, hit back in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
"Between the ages of 10 and 12, I was sexually abused by her husband, while my birth mother did nothing to protect me," she wrote. "I've always known that she was deeply sick and unwell, and it's sad to see Vivek Ramaswamy exploit her all for his own political gain."
Acton and her brother were taken out of their mother's custody as children. Her brother, Philip Stearns, slammed the ad as "disgusting."
The Ramaswamy camp showed no sign of retreating.
"This is a campaign-ending moment for Amy Acton. The people who know her best keep warning Ohioans about her," campaign manager Jonathan Ewing told Axios.
Not every Republican agreed. GOP strategist David Urban warned on CNN that the ad could backfire with voters, pointing to the Epstein files controversy and the sympathy it has generated for sexual abuse survivors.
"It seems crazy to me one would assume this would work and not backfire," conservative commentator Mary Katharine Ham wrote on X.
Donald Trump Jr. came to the ad's defense, urging Ohioans to "watch [it] and think about what it means."
Ramaswamy is trailing in the race. A Marist poll from mid-October had Acton ahead 50 percent to 43 percent among likely voters.