VANDALIA, Ohio — Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s controversial television advertisement featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Dr. Amy Acton, has left the airwaves in the final days of the Ohio governor’s race, the Vindicator reported Thursday, October 29, 2026. The campaign confirmed that the ad had completed its scheduled rotation, shifting focus to other campaign spots as voting approaches.
The one-minute ad, which was later edited down to 30 seconds, featured Donna Arthur calling her daughter a liar and urging voters to reject her at the ballot box. Acton has stated publicly that she has not seen or spoken to her mother since 1978, following a domestic crisis in which Arthur lost custody of her children after Acton’s stepfather was charged with raping her as a young child.
Backlash From Fellow Republicans
The ad sparked a nationwide firestorm and drew sharp criticism from prominent figures within the Republican Party. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican who endorsed Ramaswamy’s gubernatorial bid, publicly urged the campaign to halt the broadcast. Four former state governors and various other party members also criticized the decision to use Arthur as a character witness, pointing to the deeply painful and distant family history.
Despite the widespread condemnation, the Ramaswamy campaign maintained that the spot simply ran its natural course. “It ran to completion, and we’ve put up four other ads,” Ramaswamy told reporters during a campaign stop Thursday in Vandalia, according to NBC News. A campaign official reiterated to national outlets that the media buy was structured to rotate off the schedule like any standard commercial placement.
The Acton Campaign’s Response
Dr. Acton addressed the controversy earlier in the week during a campaign appearance in Youngstown, noting that the advertisement brought to light painful details about her childhood that she was previously unaware of. She expressed gratitude for the widespread public support she received following the ad’s debut.
In a late-afternoon press release on Thursday, Acton campaign spokesperson Addie Bullock sharply condemned the Republican candidate’s handling of the situation. “Vivek Ramaswamy should never have run his despicable ad in the first place, and it’s totally unsurprising that he took it off the air in the most cowardly way possible, without even the hint of an apology to Dr. Acton, her family, or to the people of Ohio,” Bullock said.