Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is calling for Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican he endorsed to succeed him as governor, to stop airing an ad that features the estranged mother of Ramaswamy’s Democratic opponent, Amy Acton.
“The ad, on its face, is deeply, deeply troubling,” DeWine said in a Thursday news conference he called to address what has become a boiling controversy in the final days of a hostile race.
DeWine, however, reaffirmed his support for Ramaswamy.
“Look, today is about the ad, but I’m not — no, I’m not changing my endorsement,” DeWine said when pressed by reporters at the Ohio Statehouse. “I endorse the whole ticket, as you know. I’m a Republican. I endorse the whole ticket. On that ticket are some amazing people, almost all of whom I have worked with in the past.”
The Ramaswamy campaign ad, backed by a $4 million purchase of statewide airtime, features Donna Arthur, who in the minute-long spot calls her daughter a “liar” and urges Ohioans not to vote for her. Acton has talked about being sexually abused by her mother’s husband as a child. Her brother, Philip Stearns, has corroborated her account, saying in a video for Acton’s campaign that their “birth mother stayed married to Amy’s rapist until he died.”
Acton has said that she has not seen or spoken to her mother in nearly 50 years. Arthur has not responded to requests for comment from NBC News.
The abuse claims are not referenced in the ad. But DeWine on Thursday talked about prosecuting sexual assault cases earlier in his career in public service and said that he found the ad troubling given the family history.
“When you know the rest of the story, when you know the backstory, when you know that the husband of the mom was indicted by a grand jury after hearing testimony, and that he took off along with the mother … and that two children never saw, I guess, the mother after that — when you know that, it just to me makes it more serious,” DeWine said. “It makes it just more wrong.”
He added: “So it’s wrong to run this ad, and even at this late time — my wife, Fran, saw the ad run this morning on TV — I would just urge the Ramaswamy campaign to take this down.”
DeWine joins a growing list of Republicans who have condemned an ad that has been criticized on both sides of the political aisle. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, said Wednesday that he “would not have run that ad.”
But there also has been a split in the Republican Party. Others, including Vice President JD Vance, whose old Senate seat Husted was appointed to last year, have downplayed the outrage over the spot.
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“Politics is a tough business, and my message to my fellow elected Republicans is if you actually believe in the things you say you believe in, stop whining about an advertisement and go win the race in 13 days,” Vance told reporters Wednesday in Cincinnati.
Asked about Vance’s remarks Thursday, Dewine said, “Look, I’m not going to comment on what someone else said.”
“I mean, this is Mike DeWine, with my life experiences, saying what I think about this ad,” he added. “So I’m going to keep it just to that.”
DeWine’s life experiences aside, his willingness to reprimand Ramaswamy is not entirely surprising. He worked closely with Acton when she served as the governor’s health director during the early days of the Covid pandemic. DeWine has defended her against attacks from Ramaswamy and his allies on her leadership during that crisis.
DeWine also was not initially sold on Ramaswamy’s candidacy for governor. He had originally wanted Husted, who served as his lieutenant governor, to be his successor. And last year he expressed interest in his new lieutenant governor, former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel, challenging Ramaswamy in the Republican primary. Tressel passed, and DeWine eventually backed Ramaswamy.
Ramaswamy spokesperson Connie Luck noted that DeWine on Thursday also expressed concern over how Acton’s campaign has mentioned Ramaswamy’s mother in its messaging. DeWine also emphasized that it was Ramaswamy’s attack that had a $4 million push behind it.
“Governor DeWine is correct that the first and only candidate to attack the mother of her opponent in this race was Amy Acton,” Luck said. “We refuse to accept the media’s double standards when Democrats have regularly used family members of President Trump, RFK Jr., and other Republicans in ads. Voters shouldn’t buy it.”