Ramaswamy's Ad Featuring Amy Acton's Estranged Mother Leaves the Air. Winning Is Not Worth This.

The facts come first below. My opinion follows in the section marked as opinion.

Republican Vivek Ramaswamy's television ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent for Ohio governor, Amy Acton, has ended its run, his campaign confirmed Thursday. The campaign said the ad rotated out after completing its intended run and that other ads are running in the final days of the race, NBC News reported. "It ran to completion, and we've put up four other ads," Ramaswamy said, according to NBC, citing The Columbus Dispatch.

In the race to succeed Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, Acton, a former state health director, is leading in the polls and that the backlash to the ad was so significant it could also hurt Republican Sen. Jon Husted, according to NPR.

What the ad said

In the ad, Acton's mother, Donna Arthur, says, "It's not easy for a mother to say this, but Amy was a serious problem. She is a liar; she lies about her past." Acton has spoken publicly about being abused as a child by her now-deceased stepfather, CBS News reported.

According to police and court documents obtained by the Associated Press, Arthur's husband, Cledith Arthur, was charged in July 1978 with raping his stepdaughter, then 12. He pleaded not guilty, was indicted, then failed to appear at a court hearing and remained a fugitive until at least 1981. He has since died. Acton has not seen her mother since they were in a courtroom together in 1978, the AP reported. The campaign said Arthur was not paid for the video and that it would spend $4 million to promote it.

The reaction

DeWine, who has endorsed Ramaswamy, urged the campaign to pull the ad. "It's wrong to run this ad," DeWine said. He said he was not rescinding his endorsement. Husted said in a statement to the AP that he would not have run it, CBS News reported.

Ramaswamy's campaign defended the ad. Spokesperson Connie Luck said, "Acton's mother is speaking out about her clear pattern of lying — not abuse — and it should be covered as such, not just with the Acton campaign spin." Vice President JD Vance told Republicans to "stop whining about an advertisement and go win the race," and President Trump called the ad "very powerful," according to CBS News.

Acton called the ad "despicable." Her campaign said Thursday that Ramaswamy took it off the air "without even the hint of an apology to Dr. Acton, her family, or to the people of Ohio," NBC News reported.

Dock Line recently looked at what is fair game when attacking a candidate in another race: Methodist Pastor Adam Hamilton Leads Roger Marshall in Kansas.

Opinion: Winning is not worth this

Vivek Ramaswamy has said many things conservatives agree with. But this ad was wrong, and Republicans like Mike DeWine and Jon Husted were right to say so.

A candidate's record is fair game. Acton's handling of the pandemic, her policies and her honesty in public office are all fair subjects for debate. A wound from her childhood is not. A man was charged with raping her when she was 12. He never stood trial because he fled. To put her estranged mother on television calling her a liar, weeks before an election, turns that wound into a weapon.

It is no defense to say the ad does not mention the abuse. Anyone who knew the history could see what the ad would do. Nor is it a defense to say politics is a tough business. It is. That is exactly why Christians in politics must set limits that the other side may not.

Jesus gave a simple rule: "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." No candidate would want the darkest chapter of his own childhood paraded on television by an estranged relative. Conservatives who claim to defend the family should not cheer when a family's deepest pain is used to win votes.

The ad is off the air now. An apology to Amy Acton would still be the right thing to do, whatever happens on Tuesday.