Abuse and estrangement: What Ramaswamy’s Ohio governor’s race ad with Amy Acton’s mom didn’t mention

Republican Vivek Ramaswamy released a campaign ad in which his Democratic competitor’s mother calls her daughter a “liar” and warns voters not to support her for Ohio governor.

“Don’t vote for people who lie,” Donna Arthur says in the ad. “Don’t let her become your governor. If you think she’ll make your life better, you’re fooling yourself. It will only get worse.”

Not mentioned in the video: That Democrat Amy Acton, 60, has been estranged from her mother since she was a child in the 1970s, after Acton’s stepfather was charged with sexual abuse.  

The ad prompted bipartisan backlash after Acton’s family members and allies pointed to the strained family history. 

The video began circulating on social media Oct. 19, with no information about who had produced and paid for it. It was first published by D.J. Byrnes, an Ohio political blogger known as “The Rooster.” Byrnes said a voter who had seen it as part of a poll recorded it and forwarded it to him, CNN reported.

In excerpts from an Oct. 20 interview with WOSU-FM, an Ohio public radio station, Acton said she believed the ad was funded by Ramaswamy. She said she was removed from her mother’s care at age 12 and hadn’t seen her since. “It’s awful to see her this way, and it’s even more incredible to see that my opponent has taken advantage of someone who’s clearly not well, who is older, and this is totally in line with who he is,” Acton said in the radio interview. The full interview was slated to air Oct. 21.

Despite the backlash, Ramaswamy’s campaign took responsibility for the ad Oct. 20 and said it planned to spend $4 million to promote it.

The same day, Acton’s campaign released a statement in which Acton recounts her family history. It also released an ad, titled “Abuse,” in which Acton’s brother Phil Stearns said he and his sister were abused as children.

“I received a lot of abuse, but Amy always got the worst of it,” Stearns said. “She continued to receive that abuse because she knew she had to protect me.”

On Oct. 20, a Ramaswamy town hall attendee interrupted the candidate to criticize the ad and defend Acton. Ramaswamy warned the man that he would be removed if he continued interrupting. A police officer eventually escorted the attendee from the venue.

What is known about Acton’s childhood?

Acton has publicly discussed her difficult childhood for years. In a 2019 interview with The Vindicator, the Youngstown newspaper, Acton described family life in her early years as “out of control” and recounted sexual abuse by her stepfather, as well as neglect and instability.  

After Acton’s stepfather was arrested, Acton’s mother lost custody of Acton and her brother, according to Acton’s Oct. 20 press release.  Acton went on to earn a medical degree and have a career in public health, including serving as Ohio’s director of health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some details of Acton’s adolescence are difficult to verify independently, because it was the late 1970s — nearly five decades ago — and she was a minor at the time. But after the ad surfaced, the Acton campaign shared with the media, including PolitiFact, extensive screenshots of court materials and other documentation.

In 1978, Cledith Arthur was arrested and indicted by a grand jury on charges of raping a 12-year-old girl, according to an Aug. 11, 1978, article in The Vindicator. Acton, who was born in 1966, would have been 12 years old in 1978. 

The campaign said Acton has been estranged from her mother since she was 12.

Court records provided by Acton’s campaign show Cledith Arthur pleaded not guilty and later failed to appear in court. By October 1978, a warrant had been issued for his arrest, and he was considered a fugitive. An arrest warrant was reissued in 1981, according to an image of a sheriff’s office document shared by the campaign. The Acton campaign has said he was never arrested and didn’t face trial.

Stearns said Donna Arthur remained married to Cledith Arthur until his death. He reportedly died in 2004. 

The Acton campaign also shared records about other legal cases involving Acton’s mother. Pennsylvania court records corroborate that both Donna Arthur and Cledith Arthur were convicted of felony theft by deception in 1996.

Donna Arthur also was convicted of animal neglect in Pennsylvania in 2021 after authorities found cats and kittens in a hot, locked vehicle. The Pennsylvania Superior Court vacated the conviction and sentence in 2023 and remanded the case for further proceedings.

In 2020, while Acton was Ohio’s director of health, Donna Arthur disputed her daughter’s account of childhood abuse in an interview with Operation Rescue, an anti-abortion group.

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.