SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
An attack ad from the campaign of Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate for Ohio governor, has thrown that race into turmoil. And just to mention, in the coming story we are going to talk about sexual abuse. In the ad, the estranged mother of the Democratic candidate, Amy Acton, says her daughter is a liar. Acton has long talked about being sexually abused by her stepfather and how her mother stayed with him after his arrest. George Shillcock of WOSU Public Media in Columbus joins us now. Hey, there.
GEORGE SHILLCOCK, BYLINE: Hello.
DETROW: Let's start with the ad. What does it say?
SHILLCOCK: In the ad, a woman named Donna Arthur urges people not to vote for her daughter.
(SOUNDBITE OF AD)
DONNA ARTHUR: She is a liar. She lies about her past.
SHILLCOCK: She disputed a story Acton's told for years of her difficult childhood, where she and her younger brother were homeless at one point and lived in a tent with her mother and stepfather. At first, we didn't know who created the ad because the video didn't have the required disclosure that says who paid for it. But then, Tuesday, Ramaswamy told reporters it is an ad from his campaign. Here he is.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
VIVEK RAMASWAMY: I would love for this race, in this election, to be about the substantive issues that impact Ohioans. And unfortunately, Amy Acton has been hiding from those issues.
DETROW: So WOSU had an interview with Acton yesterday just as all of this was breaking. What was her response?
SHILLCOCK: Yes, our talk show All Sides with Amy Juravich was already scheduled to have Acton on. She explained how she and her mother have been estranged for over 50 years. Acton says her stepfather raped her. Court records produced by the campaign - and we verified - show they lived in a tent, and Arthur lost custody of Acton and her little brother. Acton's stepfather was charged but left the state with Arthur before he could be tried. He's deceased. Here's what Acton told us.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
AMY ACTON: I was removed from her at the age of 12 - my brother was 9 - for child abuse and neglect that got bad enough we were actually living in a tent in the middle of winter.
SHILLCOCK: Acton says it was awful to see her mother this way and criticized Ramaswamy for using Arthur in an ad like this.
DETROW: Let's take a step back because here we are in late October talking about a close gubernatorial race in Ohio. This is a state that has not elected a Democratic governor in - what? - 20 years?
SHILLCOCK: Yes, that's correct. The last Democratic governor was elected in 2006. And Trump has won the state three times. But the Cook Political Report rates this as a toss-up. On WOSU's talk show today, Bowling Green State University political science professor Robert Alexander says there is potential that the ad backfires on Ramaswamy. One issue during the campaign has been Acton's refusal to debate Ramaswamy. Alexander, who is on the state's debate commission and wants the debate to happen, is more understanding of her decision after seeing this ad.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
ROBERT ALEXANDER: With all of that said, in the last 12 hours or so, one can understand why Amy Acton didn't want to have a debate. The kinds of things that can be said, you can't unsay those things.
SHILLCOCK: Alexander says the story of Acton's childhood makes Acton seem resilient.
DETROW: What should we be looking for in the final days of this race?
SHILLCOCK: We'll see how this ad affects the race, but it's making others take sides. Today, Vice President Vance appeared at a rally in Ohio and defended the ad, saying Ramaswamy was right to run an ad that, quote, "calls Amy Acton a liar," unquote. But Republican former U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley posted on X that Ramaswamy is a, quote, "bad guy." She ran against him in the presidential primary in 2024. Libertarian candidate for governor Don Kissick called on Ramaswamy to drop out. Meanwhile, Trump and former President Barack Obama plan to come here to campaign for their party's candidates in the coming week.
DETROW: That is George Shillcock of WOSU in Columbus, Ohio. Thank you so much.
SHILLCOCK: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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