FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 23, 2026
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What Ohioans Are Saying: “Ramaswamy is desperate”
COLUMBUS, OH– Ohioans across the state are coming together to strongly denounce Vivek Ramaswamy’s heinous ad featuring the estranged and abusive mother of Dr. Acton, calling the ad “stomach-turning” and saying it shows that he is “unfit to sit at the governor’s desk.”
While Ohioans are condemning Ramaswamy for showing “appalling judgment,” Ohioans are also praising Dr. Acton, saying she’s “a remarkable person,” and will be a governor who “leads with empathy and decency,” by staying focused on fighting “for the interests of ordinary Ohioans.”
Columbus Dispatch: Ramaswamy sloshing through sewers
- There’s disgusting, and then there’s stomach-turning.
- Ramaswamy’s recent ad featuring gubernatorial candidate Dr. Amy Acton’s mother dives into repulsive sludge. The ad frames Acton as a bad daughter because she refuses contact with the woman.
- Why would she reject her mother? Because after it was revealed that her mother married a pedophile who molested Acton as an adolescent, her mother stayed with her rapist.
- A woman cutting off contact with the ally of her rapist? It shows common sense and understandable self-protection to me.
- He doesn’t care about working people. He doesn’t care about sympathy, empathy, or basic decency.
- He cares only about power. Ohio, don’t give it to him. Elect Amy Acton.
Cleveland.com: Ramaswamy’s Amy Acton attack ad is desperate and shameful
- Vivek Ramaswamy’s gross commercial starring Amy Acton’s long-alienated mother who escaped Ohio when her husband was indicted for the sexual abuse of a 12-year-old Amy says more about him that it does Amy.
- It shows the horrible childhood she had to overcome to become the great lady she is today. A lady who will serve us well as governor.
- It shows that Ramaswamy is desperate. One who will do anything to win. Shame on him and those who support him. Vote Acton.
Columbus Dispatch: Moral rot against victims
- Vivek Ramaswamy’s new ad featuring her mother, who stood by the man charged with raping Amy Acton at 12, isn’t just the latest and most damning proof that he has no business being governor of Ohio. It should be the final straw for anyone still giving his entire party the benefit of the doubt.
- He has already gone after Acton over her childhood abuse, even naming his PAC “Victors not Victims” in line with his hyper-capitalist “I’m rich because I’m a genius” schtick. Now he’s spending $4 million to put the woman who stayed with her daughter’s alleged abuser on the air, calling Acton a liar.
Columbus Dispatch: A cruel message
- Vivek Ramaswamy’s decision to exploit Dr. Amy Acton’s childhood trauma reveals three reasons he is unfit to sit at the governor’s desk.
- His campaign produced an ad featuring Acton’s estranged mother calling her a liar about her childhood. Acton’s stepfather was indicted on a charge of raping her when she was 12. According to Acton’s brother, their mother remained married to him until his death.
- First, this shows appalling judgment. Someone who sees a survivor’s broken family as a political opportunity cannot be trusted to exercise the judgment governing requires.
- Second, it reveals deliberate cruelty. Ramaswamy could challenge Acton’s policies and public record. Instead, his campaign chose to reopen wounds inflicted on a child and then committed millions to broadcasting the attack.
- Third, it undermines a governor’s responsibility to protect vulnerable people. What message does this send to survivors wondering whether anyone in power will take their suffering seriously?
- Acton was a child when the adults responsible for protecting her failed her. Decades later, Ramaswamy has chosen to exploit that failure for votes.
- A willingness to cross that line should disqualify him from holding Ohio’s highest office.
Columbus Dispatch: A new level of indecency
- Imagine being sexually assaulted and abused by your stepfather as a 9-year-old. Imagine having to protect your younger brother from similar abuse. Now imagine your mom showing up in court to defend your abuser, turning her back on you as a 12-year-old child and permanently cutting you out of her life.
- Amy Acton endured this experience and somehow managed to not only survive but also excel in school, go to med school, become the top public health figure in the state, and emerge as the leading candidate for governor.
- It’s hard to imagine the level of indecency and cruelty it would take to disparage the sexual assault of a child, but Ramaswamy managed to put it on full display. I would say it’s shocking, but the billionaire class will go to any lengths to protect their financial interests, even disparaging child sexual assault victims.
- Amy Acton is a remarkable person, a lifelong Ohioan who leads with empathy and decency. She will fight for the interests of ordinary Ohioans.
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