COLUMBUS, Ohio. — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is telling Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy to pull down his controversial ad featuring Democrat Dr. Amy Acton's estranged mother. He is not pulling his endorsement, though.
After calling the Statehouse press corps to the Capitol Rotunda Thursday morning, the Republican governor condemned the political advertisement, which has drawn bipartisan backlash over the past week.
"It's deeply, deeply, deeply troubling," DeWine. "It needs to come down; It's just wrong to continue to run it."
The ad features Donna Arthur, Acton's birth mother, who tells voters not to elect her daughter, saying she "lies about her past":
Acton hasn’t had contact with her mother since leaving the courthouse once her stepfather was charged with raping her, the candidate said.
Mahoning County Court records we obtained show that Cledith Arthur was arrested and charged with sexually abusing Acton, who was 12 years old at the time. The abuse went from ages 10 to 12, she said. Her mother lost custody, and after pleading not guilty, documents show the stepfather posted bond and fled, becoming a fugitive of the state until his death in 2004.
DeWine emphasized his career of trying to protect victims and children as a prosecutor, as well as attorney general.
"During that time and getting ready for trial, we spent a lot of time with the rape victims and I think that's the first time that I really had some real sense of the trauma that a rape victim suffers: the pain, how tough it was for them," the governor said. "The pain, how tough it was for them. "These were very, very brave women that we worked with... And so my admiration for them, I can't even describe it."
He said he needed to send a message to children that Ohio is there to protect them, the governor added.
"I think we all have an obligation to speak out for the victims," DeWine said. "It's one of the reasons I'm doing this today."
DeWine is the latest Republican to speak out against it, along with both U.S. Sen. Jon Husted and Secretary of State Frank LaRose, saying they wouldn’t have run it. Voters have also been sympathetic.
"Can I give you a hug?" a voter asked Acton at a campaign event Wednesday. "When I heard it yesterday, that's all I wanted to do— cry and hug you and tell you it would be okay."
Acton accepted the hug, thanking the Ohioan.
"What has also been remarkable to see... is how many people are outraged by this because so many people have experienced some sort of trauma or abuse in their lives," Acton said.
Ramaswamy will not be taking the ad down, and said there is nothing wrong with it.
"If she feels that there's anything that's unfair or inaccurate about the criticisms leveled against her, she should be willing to defend herself on the debate stage," he said.
Here's what Ramaswamy had to say about the ad:
RELATED: Ramaswamy takes responsibility for controversial ad featuring Acton's estranged mother
He has backing from both President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.
"A person who is more worried about whether somebody says something mean about them, that person could never serve in the governor's mansion," Vance said at a rally Wednesday.
On social media, Trump called the controversy surrounding the ad a "concerted and well coordinated attack" from the press. He also called DeWine "disloyal" to the Republican Party for urging Ramaswamy to take down the ad.
Although the ad goes too far for DeWine, it doesn’t go far enough to rescind his endorsement.
"Today it is about the ad, but I'm not, no, I'm not changing endorsement..." DeWine said. "I endorse the whole ticket. In that ticket are some amazing people, almost all of whom I have worked with in the past."
DeWine said he wanted to focus on the ad.
"People are voting right now as you and I are talking," DeWine said. "They've been voting for some time, so what Mike DeWine thinks or who he endorses is pretty irrelevant."
He wouldn't say if he had spoken to either Ramaswamy or Acton.
"How do you reckon with yourself still endorsing a candidate that would put out this ad knowing the full context of what happened to Dr. Amy Acton?" I asked DeWine.
"Look, I believe, as I just said, that people I've worked with on that ticket are very, very good people," he responded. "Look, I'm a Republican, and so I did my endorsement a few months ago. What I wanted to talk today about is this ad."
He defended Acton's credibility as he continued to denounce the ad.
"In regard to telling the truth, my experience with her and working closely with her every single day was that she certainly told the truth; that's my experience," DeWine said.
Statement from News 5 owner Scripps
Under the FCC rules for political advertising, broadcast television stations are required to air ads for all federal candidates and most state candidates. The candidates are protected by the FCC’s “no censorship rule,” which prevents the stations from refusing an ad or running it at times viewers are less likely to see it due to content. In addition, The E.W. Scripps Company supports the freedom of speech principles that are the basis of the First Amendment.
Follow Statehouse and Columbus bureau reporter Morgan Trau on X, Instagram and Facebook. Email her at Morgan.Trau@wews.com.
