As criticism mounts over Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s attack ad featuring his rival’s estranged mother, attention has turned to the woman herself and her long history of legal troubles and fraud allegations.
The one-minute video features Donna Arthur, the mother of Amy Acton. Acton is the former director of the Ohio Department of Health and the Democratic nominee in the Ohio gubernatorial race. The Ramaswamy campaign has confirmed it produced the ad—in which Arthur calls her daughter a "liar" with a "serious problem"—and that it will spend $4 million airing it statewide in the dying days of the race.
Acton’s campaign called the ad "repulsive" and her brother labeled it a "despicable low" from the Republican candidate, given Acton has long accused her stepfather—Cledith Arthur, her mother’s now-deceased husband—of sexually abusing her as a child, for which he was arrested and charged.
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On Wednesday, Acton's campaign shared with Newsweek a tranche of material documenting what it calls her mother’s "long history of fraud, abuse and legal jeopardy."
Newsweek has contacted Ramaswamy’s campaign via email outside of regular hours for comment. Newsweek has also contacted email addresses public records indicate are associated with Acton’s mother.
What Was in the Ad?
"I love my daughter, but when I saw her lying about her opponent—and it's not easy for a mother to say this—but Amy has a serious problem," Acton’s mother says in the ad. "She is a liar. She lies about her past. She says she grew up living in a tent. None of that is true. She's lied her entire life."
The statements made by Arthur in the video are allegations and have not been corroborated by Ramaswamy’s team.
As Acton’s campaign told Newsweek, the pair have been estranged since 1978, when her stepfather was charged with raping Acton, then 12 years old. The Democrat has been open about facing sexual abuse and homelessness during her childhood, and this context therefore circulated quickly after the ad first surfaced online.
In a statement to Newsweek on Tuesday Ramaswamy’s campaign responded to the resulting criticism, saying: "We don't know what happened between Amy and her mother, who first spoke out about Amy in 2020, but we know that Amy Acton is a serial fabulist who has some serious problems with the truth that the public needs to be aware of before deciding who to entrust as governor."
Acton’s campaign, in response, said her opponent was "doubling down" on a "disgusting smear."
"The choice to use, and then stand by, Dr. Acton’s estranged and abusive mother who stayed married to her rapist stepfather until the day he died shows Ohioans exactly who Vivek Ramaswamy is," said Addie Bullock, a spokesperson for the campaign.
Acton’s Mother’s Legal Troubles
The campaign accused Donna Arthur of "facilitating the rape of her daughter and spending decades protecting Cledith Arthur." And beyond this, court records reveal that Acton’s mother has a troubled history of allegations and convictions in Pennsylvania where she resides.
Public records show that Arthur has faced several charges of animal neglect, at least one of which resulted in a conviction. In a summary of the case, a court said that in 2021 Arthur was "keeping several cats and/or newborn kittens in a locked and filthy vehicle, with the windows rolled up, on an unseasonably warm spring day, and with an internal vehicle temperature of one hundred twenty degrees Fahrenheit." The conviction was later vacated on appeal over denial of counsel.
During the trial, the court described Arthur’s testimony as "not credible."
In 1995, Arthur was charged with "Theft By Decep-False Impression"—when a victim parts with their money or property after being misled—which included passing "bad checks." Arthur pleaded guilty in the case.
And a 1996 record shows that Arthur was found guilty on separate charges of the same crime and sentenced to a maximum of 24 months confinement. It is unclear how much of this, if any, she served.
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"Vivek Ramaswamy investing $4 million to run a repulsive advertisement that gives star billing to Dr. Acton’s abusive mother is both despicable and entirely predictable from a scam artist who has spent this campaign standing alongside abusers and sex predators," Addie Bullock, an Acton campaign spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.
Ramaswamy has not distanced himself from the ad, despite a growing chorus of cross-party criticism. The conservative commentator Meghan McCain called it "dastardly," while South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace, a Republican, described it as the "most shameful, disgusting, offensive ad this election season."
Vice President JD Vance, however, has said people should "stop whining" about the video, and told reporters on Wednesday he was "disgusted" that so many Republicans had been critical of Ramaswamy over it.
Polls conducted before the ad controversy showed a close race between the two candidates, though the Republican’s odds across prediction markets have weakened since the ad first surfaced.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Dan Orton and Tony Phillips.