A jarring new ad in the Ohio governor’s race features Democrat Amy Acton’s birth mother denouncing her and calling her a liar — but Acton says her mom enabled and supported the man who raped her when she was just 12 years old.
asserted
she → feature → her
Acton’s campaign is now accusing her GOP opponent Vivek Ramaswamy of reaching a “despicable low” in the race by dredging up her painful past as a child sex abuse survivor.
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campaign → accuse → survivor
In the shocking video, Donna Arthur accused Acton of embellishing her accusations about being sexually abused as a child.
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Arthur → accuse → child
“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.
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Amy → love → problem
She lies about her past,” Arthur said in the stunning video clip.
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Arthur → lie → clip
“She says she grew up living in a tent.
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she → say → tent
None of that is true,” Arthur went on.
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Arthur → go → that
“She’s lied her entire life.
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She → lie → ?
My daughter needs help, and she can’t help you if she needs help herself.
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she → need → help
People can change, but first they have to tell the truth, and my daughter still isn’t doing that.”
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daughter → change → that
“Don’t vote for people who lie.
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who → vote → people
Don’t let her become your governor.
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her → let → ?
If you think she’ll make your life better, you’re fooling yourself.
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you → think → yourself
It will only get worse.”
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It → get → ?
Acton’s camp immediately hit out at Ramaswamy — a tech exec and 2024 presidential candidate — after the video surfaced online Tuesday, but it was not clear who was sponsoring the spot.
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who → hit → spot
“It’s not surprising that Vivek Ramaswamy has stooped to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at twelve years old from our birth mother’s husband into a political talking point,” Philip Stearns, Acton’s brother, said in a statement released by her campaign.
“After he was arrested and Amy and I were removed from their custody, our birth mother stayed married to Amy’s rapist until he died,” he added.
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he → ’ → rapist
“This desperate, disgusting attack reveals exactly who Vivek Ramaswamy is at his core — a pathetic excuse for a man who is willing to hurt anyone as long as it gets him what he wants.”
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he → reveal → what
Acton currently has a 3.7 percentage point edge over Ramaswamy in the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate of polls — despite Ohio being deep red since 2016.
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Ohio → have → 2016
The state gave President Trump 53% of the vote in 2020 and 55% in 2024.
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state → give → 2024
Ramaswamy’s allies have sought to paint Acton as unstable and insinuate that she has an issue with alcohol.
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she → seek → alcohol
For her part, Acton has called Ramaswamy a “serial liar” and a “scam artist,” refusing to debate him.
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Acton → call → him
Her allies have also attacked him over his business affairs.
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allies → attack → affairs
Acton, who helmed the Ohio Department of Health from 2019 through 2020, has been open about her harsh upbringing, making it part of her political origin story.
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it → helm → story
The product of an unexpected pregnancy, Acton’s mother divorced her father when she was about three years old, The Vindicator reported.
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Vindicator → divorce → father
“It got out of control.
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It → get → control
Custody [back then] always went to the mom.
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Custody → go → mom
My dad tried to get custody of us,” she recounted to the outlet in 2019.
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she → try → 2019
“I have so many crazy stories. …
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I → have → stories
I spent so much time being scared as a kid, but also navigating the adult world.”
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I → spend → world
Acton claimed that Arthur was involved with different men until she finally married her stepfather, Bud, whom she said had previously been accused of molestation.
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she → claim → molestation
His abuse of Acton led to criminal charges being filed against him, and later she moved in with her biological father, according to her account.
uncertain
she → lead → account
“I was lucky that it got bad enough, because it got me out of there,” she recounted, noting how she had been spending winter in a campground around Youngstown, Ohio.
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she → get → Youngstown
The Democratic hopeful claims Arthur also faced charges and that her stepfather “skipped town and have not been heard from since.”
uncertain
stepfather → claim → town
She has been backed up by her brother in that account of events.
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She → back → events
Arthur, however, has accused Acton’s biological father, Jerry Stearns, of abusing her when she was pregnant with Acton.
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she → accuse → Acton
She claimed Acton’s rape and sexual assault accusations against Bud were a custody ploy by Jerry.
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accusations → claim → Jerry
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