An extraordinary family drama erupted Tuesday in Ohio’s gubernatorial race after Donna Arthur, mother of Democratic candidate Amy Acton, appeared in a public video calling her daughter a liar and urging voters to reject her candidacy. The move triggered a fierce response from Acton’s campaign, which—through her brother Philip Stearns—revealed a tragic family history and accused Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy of cynically exploiting sexual abuse Acton suffered as a child at the hands of her mother’s husband. However, the brutal advertisement was not sponsored by the Ramaswamy campaign.
BOMBSHELL:
Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton’s own mother urges voters not to vote for her daughter.
“My name is Donna Arthur and I’m Amy Acton’s mother. I worked at Children and Family Service Association, building one of the first two sexual abuse programs in America.
I love my daughter, but when I saw her lying about her opponent—and it’s not easy for a mother to say this—but Amy has a serious problem.
She is a liar. She lies about her past. She says she grew up living in a tent. None of that is true. She’s lied her entire life.
My daughter needs help, and she can’t help you if she needs help herself. People can change, but first they have to tell the truth, and my daughter still isn’t doing that.
Don’t vote for people who lie. Don’t let her become your governor. If you think she’ll make your life better, you’re fooling yourself. It will only get worse.”
That’s one hell of an October surprise.
— Walter Curt (@wcdispatch) October 20, 2026
In the video circulated on social media, Arthur addressed voters and declared that despite her love for her daughter, she felt a moral obligation not to remain silent in the face of what she described as systematic lies. “I love my daughter. But when I saw her lying about her opponent—and it’s not easy for a mother to say this—but Amy has a serious problem. She is a liar,” Arthur claimed.
The mother added that Acton lies about her childhood stories and claims of growing up in hardship: “She lies about her past. She says she grew up living in a tent. None of that is true. She’s lied her entire life,” and warned Ohio residents against entrusting the state to her: “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.”
The response to the family attack came swiftly. Acton’s campaign released a sharp statement in the name of her brother, Philip Stearns, revealing a harsh and estranged reality within the family. Stearns leveled serious accusations against Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, claiming he was behind the attempt to resurface his sister’s trauma: “It’s unsurprising Vivek Ramaswamy has sunk to such a vile low as to try to make the sexual abuse Amy suffered at age 12 by our biological mother’s husband a political talking point.”
Stearns added that after the abuser’s arrest, the children were removed from parental custody, but according to him, “our biological mother remained married to Amy’s rapist until he died.” Stearns ended with a direct attack on Ramaswamy, calling him “a pathetic excuse for a man who’s willing to hurt anyone as long as it gets him what he wants.”
Vivek Ramaswamy did not sponsor the ad, and it is unclear who paid for it.