Acton's Brother Condemns Ramaswamy Campaign Over Video Featuring Their Mother

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A video featuring Dr. Amy Acton’s estranged mother urging Ohioans not to elect her daughter governor has set off a new fight in the race for governor, two weeks before Election Day.

The 60-second video, which began circulating Monday night, features Donna Arthur, who identifies herself as Acton’s mother. In it, Arthur disputes Acton’s account of her childhood and calls her daughter a liar.

“She lies about her past. She says she grew up living in a tent. None of that is true,” Arthur says in the video. “My daughter needs help, and she can’t help you if she needs help herself. Don’t vote for people who lie. Don’t let her become your governor.”

On Tuesday, Acton’s brother, Philip Stearns, released a statement through her campaign condemning Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, whose campaign the Acton campaign blames for the video.

“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,” Stearns said. “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.”

The Ramaswamy campaign had not publicly commented on the video as of Tuesday morning.

Acton, the Democratic nominee and Ohio’s former health director, has spoken publicly about her childhood for years. In a 2019 Youngstown Vindicator profile, she described being abused by her stepfather, criminal charges being filed, and her mother standing by him. She said then that she had not seen or heard from her mother since a court appearance following the arrest.

Acton faces Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee, in the Nov. 3 election to succeed Gov. Mike DeWine.

Photo: Dr. Amy Acton (left) and Vivek Ramaswamy. Acton photo via Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Ramaswamy photo via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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