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Polling indicates that Republican candidate for Ohio governor Vivek Ramaswamy has lost support from voters in the weeks since he aired a controversial campaign ad featuring his opponent’s long-estranged mother.
A survey conducted by a Republican polling firm before the airing of the ad found that Democratic nominee Amy Acton and Ramaswamy were in a statistical tie, with Acton leading slightly by a margin of 47 percent to 45 percent. Polling from that firm after the airing of the ad shows Acton leading by 50 percent to Ramaswamy’s 42 percent — a 6-point swing in favor of the Democrat.
The ad was widely criticized, not just by Democrats but also by some Republicans, because it featured Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, accusing her daughter of having a “serious problem” and of being “a liar.” Acton and Arthur have not seen or spoken to one another since Acton was 12 years old, when she testified that Arthur’s then-husband had sexually assaulted her for years.
“Between the ages of 10 and 12, I was sexually abused by her husband, while my birth mother did nothing to protect me. … I’ve always known that she was deeply sick and unwell, and it’s sad to see Vivek Ramaswamy exploit her all for his own political gain,” Acton said in a statement earlier this month.
Despite widespread pushback, Ramaswamy continued purchasing ad time for the commercial. President Donald Trump also supported the ad, refusing to acknowledge the abuse Acton alleged against her stepfather. At a campaign rally this week in Ohio, Trump went so far as to claim that critics were being “very unfair” to Ramaswamy.
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The decision to run the commercial was controversial even within the GOP candidate’s own campaign. Sources have indicated that, even with only a few days left in the race, staffers are considering quitting over Ramaswamy’s continued defense and promotion of the ad.
Given the backlash, the ad may have the potential to do greater harm than good for Republicans overall, becoming a sort of self-defeating October Surprise.
But with the president’s endorsement of the spot, GOP candidates are in a tough position, as public condemnation of the ad could alienate MAGA supporters. Within Ohio, GOP candidate for lieutenant governor Robert McColley has felt “forced to publicly defend it,” sources say, despite supposedly having reservations about the commercial early on.
Beyond the Republican firm’s polling, other recent surveys indicate that Acton is ahead of Ramaswamy, with an aggregate of data compiled by FiftyPlusOne showing her with a 3-point lead as of Thursday morning.
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