Washington, Oct 22: Indian-American Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign for Ohio governor is standing by a one-minute attack ad in which Democratic rival Amy Acton’s estranged birth mother calls her “a liar”, even as Vice President J.D. Vance rallied voters for him in suburban Cincinnati.
The Ramaswamy campaign confirmed late on Tuesday that it had produced the ad featuring Donna Arthur, Acton’s birth mother, according to Axios and The Hill.
Campaign spokesperson Connie Luck said Arthur was not paid and that the campaign would spend $4 million promoting the ad online and on television, the reports said.
Acton has said she was removed from her mother at the age of 12 “for severe abuse and neglect, and sexual abuse,” according to reports by The Hill and WOUB.
The ad drew sharp criticism. Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown called it “disgusting”, while commentator Meghan McCain described it as “dastardly”, the reports said. Casey Putsch, a former Republican rival of Ramaswamy, said he would vote for Acton.
PolitiFact, which examined the ad’s claims on Wednesday, reviewed the dispute between Acton and her birth mother over her childhood.
At a rally with Vance in Sharonville on Wednesday, Ramaswamy did not mention Acton at all, according to the Dayton Daily News. Instead, he pitched his plans for zero state income tax, lower electricity bills, property-tax cuts and support for the steel industry, the paper reported.
Vance, however, defended the ad, saying the campaign “told it like it is”, according to public radio stations WYSO and WVXU. A heckler was removed from the event, the stations reported.
On X, Ramaswamy accused Acton of “hiding from debate” and said she “bans cameras” at her events. He also posted a video titled “A strong message to Republicans” and shared a segment by broadcaster Megyn Kelly on Acton.
The timing is significant. More than 676,000 Ohioans have already cast their ballots, according to the reports.
A recent Marist poll has closely tracked the race.
Former President Barack Obama is due to join Brown and Acton at a rally in Cleveland on October 24, WYSO reported, in a sign that Democrats see the governor’s race as competitive in a state that has trended Republican.
Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur born in Cincinnati to immigrant parents from Kerala, ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 before endorsing Donald Trump. He briefly co-led the Department of Government Efficiency effort with Elon Musk before launching his bid for governor.
Acton, a physician, served as director of the Ohio Department of Health during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ohio votes in the November 3 general election.
--IANS