Governor Says Ramaswamy Ad Is 'Deeply, Deeply Troubling'

Ohio's Republican governor is blasting an ad from the candidate that he wants to replace him. Mike DeWine on Thursday urged Vivek Ramaswamy to pull a $4 million TV spot that features the estranged mother of Democratic candidate Amy Acton calling her daughter a "liar" and urging voters to reject her, NBC News reports. DeWine, who once employed Acton as Ohio's health director and prosecuted sex crimes earlier in his career, called the ad "deeply, deeply troubling," citing the family's history.

• Acton has said her birth mother, Donna Arthur, did nothing to protect her when her stepfather sexually abused her between the ages of 10 and 12. Arthur lost custody of her children in 1978 after her husband was charged with rape, and Acton and her brother say they haven't seen her since.

"It's wrong to run this ad," DeWine said Thursday. "And, even at this late time—my wife, Fran, saw the ad just run this morning on TV—I would just urge the Ramaswamy campaign to take this down." DeWine joins other Sen. Jon Husted Republicans criticizing the ad, though Vice President JD Vance has dismissed the backlash, saying Republicans should "stop whining." DeWine declined to comment on Vance's remarks Thursday. "I mean, this is Mike DeWine, with my life experiences, saying what I think about this ad," he said. "So I'm going to keep it just to that."

DeWine said he wasn't withdrawing his endorsement of Ramaswamy, NBC reports. "I endorse the whole ticket, as you know," he said. I'm a Republican. I endorse the whole ticket. On that ticket are some amazing people, almost all of whom I have worked with in the past."

• DeWine said Acton's campaign had previously mentioned Ramaswamy's mother, though he noted that the line of attack didn't include a multimillion-dollar ad campaign, the AP reports. Over the summer, the Acton campaign cited a report on Geema Ramaswamy's role at a pharmaceutical company run by the candidate, accusing him of "hiring his own mother to manipulate clinical trial data."
• The Columbus Dispatch editorial board cited the "revolting and unsettling ad," among other reasons, in its endorsement of Acton on Wednesday. "It should go without saying that sexual violence against children should not be politicized or taken as lightly as Ramaswamy appears to take it," the Dispatch board wrote, while noting that there has been ugliness from both sides in the governor's race.