Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says a one-minute attack ad featuring Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton's estranged mother is a new low in the state's governor's race, and he wants Republican nominee Vivek Ramaswamy to pull it. But even as he condemns the commercial, DeWine is not backing away from his endorsement of Ramaswamy.
DeWine made the comments to reporters at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, calling the ad “deeply, deeply troubling” and “a new low,” according to cleveland.com. The governor urged Ramaswamy's campaign to take the spot down, the outlet reports, even though he declined to rescind his endorsement of the man he backed in January to succeed him as governor over Acton, who served as his state health director.
The ad itself features Donna Arthur, Acton's estranged mother, calling her daughter a liar and urging Ohioans not to vote for her, according to Cleveland 19 News. Acton and her mother have been estranged since 1978, the station reports, after Acton's stepfather was charged with raping her when she was 12.
Ramaswamy Takes Credit for the Spot
Ramaswamy initially declined to confirm his campaign's involvement before owning it outright. “It is an ad from our campaign,” he told CNN. As Spectrum News notes, Ramaswamy has taken responsibility for the 60-second video, which has drawn bipartisan rebukes and put DeWine's remarks at odds with his own party's nominee.
Acton pushed back with her own ad. Her campaign released a response video on her website featuring her brother, Phil Stearns, refuting their mother's claims and defending his sister, according to The Statehouse News Bureau. Acton served as director of the Ohio Department of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic under DeWine, per WOSU Public Media.
Conflicting Numbers on the Ad Buy
How much money is behind the ad depends on which report you read. One account says Ramaswamy's campaign planned to spend $4 million airing it, with AdImpact tracking an additional $4.5 million in advertising spending and reservations, according to ms.now. Separately, cleveland.com reports his campaign began a $4.5 million television campaign on Thursday to air the ad through Election Day on Nov. 3. The dossier does not resolve which figure represents the full scope of the buy.
Polling and Fundraising Tilt Toward Acton
The controversy has landed in the middle of a race where Acton appears to be gaining ground. A Marist Poll survey conducted Oct. 15-18 found Acton leading Ramaswamy 50% to 43% among likely Ohio voters, with independents breaking for Acton 53% to 34%. That survey of 1,176 registered Ohio voters carried a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points for likely voters.
Acton also out-raised Ramaswamy in September, pulling in $6.1 million compared with his $3.1 million, according to cleveland.com's earlier reporting. That widened her 2026 fundraising lead to $27.5 million against his $19.2 million. Ramaswamy's campaign has still raised more overall, $38.7 million to Acton's $31.9 million, not counting more than $36 million he has loaned his own campaign, and Ramaswamy along with allied outside groups has spent or reserved $97.3 million on television and radio ads, more than three times the roughly $30 million spent or reserved on Democratic ads.
Prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket showed Acton's chances of winning above 70%, with those odds increasing since the ad surfaced on social media, according to The Statehouse News Bureau. More than 764,000 Ohioans had already voted early by the time of that report. The Washington Post reported that early indications suggest the ad may have backfired against Ramaswamy's own campaign.
