Ohio State College Republicans pictured with State Treasurer candidate Jay Edwards (top left). Credit: Courtesy of Hunter Willmitch. Ohio State College Democrats attends and hosts Ohio gubernatorial Democrat candidate Amy Acton at WOSU (bottom left, right). Credit: Courtesy of Josie Speakman
A recent political advertisement posted Monday by the team of Ohio gubernatorial Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has been making national headlines after featuring opposing Democratic candidate Dr. Amy Acton’s estranged mother.?
Confirmed on Tuesday to be produced by Ramaswamy’s team, the advertisement features Acton’s mother who accuses her daughter of fabricating stories about her childhood.?
This includes accounts from Acton and her brother, Phillip Stearns, who stated on social media that Acton was physically and sexually abused by her stepfather between the ages of 10 and 12. Multiple sources have shared court documents online showing Acton’s stepfather was indicted in 1978, and Acton and her brother were placed outside of their mother’s care.?
The controversy stems from the moral question of whether it is fair to bring Acton’s birth mother and personal life into Ramaswamy’s campaign ad, according to Scott W. Campbell, professor with the State School of Communication and Rinehart Chair in Mediated Communication.
“Personal qualities play an important role in this campaign,” Campbell said. “I think that this campaign has [Acton’s] personal narratives, and her authenticity as a real person who’s overcome some adversity in her life and resilience. And Ramaswamy’s campaign is using that to try to flip that, to boomerang that on her, to portray her as somebody who’s not being honest.”
In response to the advertisement, Acton said to 10TV on Thursday, that the ad was horrible and hideous.?
“A sad thing. And I feel like it was an exploitative thing to do. My mother is not well,” Acton said.
Hunter Willmitch, Ohio State College Republicans president and fifth-year in political science and public leadership, management and policy, said he does not approve of the advertisement.
“We condemn the political advertisement featuring Amy Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur, and the exploitation of deeply personal family trauma for political purposes,” Willmitch stated in an email. “Regardless of political affiliation, childhood abuse should not be weaponized in campaign advertising.”
Josie Speakman, Ohio State College Democrats president and fourth-year in political science, also emailed a statement regarding the advertisement, calling the video “utterly vile and reprehensible.”
“As nationwide concerns grow over incidents of sexual violence, like the incident at Cornell, we look for leadership that refuses to look the other way,” Speakman stated in an email. “Vivek Ramaswamy’s choice to feature Dr. Acton’s abusive and estranged mother in his political advertising is indicative of his priorities, protecting and platforming abusers.?
The advertisement was also met with statements from elected officials, such as Republican Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio, who condemned the video but is not withdrawing his support for Ramaswamy.?
President Donald Trump posted a social media statement defending the ad against Republicans like DeWine.
“I only wish the mothers of my opponents would be so brave as to come forward and explain that their son or daughter is a liar, and much worse,” Trump stated on X on Thursday. “That took a lot of courage to do but, essentially, what she was really doing was saving Ohio from making a truly horrible choice! The Press is trying to convince everyone that this Ad is bad, because it’s so good!”?
Christine Bunker, a lecturer with the Fisher College of Business who specializes in marketing strategy, said that the nature of this race could help explain the intensity of advertisements, and the public’s attention to them.?
Bunker said she believes this ad changes how politics gets advertised, adding that she does not believe that anybody wants to live in a world where televisions get muted so children do not have to hear what political opponents are saying about each other.
“We’ve seen negative and nasty ads ratchet up and turn intensely personal,” Bunker said. “We’re seeing some ethical and normative lines crossed that were previously off limits, like childhood trauma and parental estrangement. Vivek Ramaswamy’s ad featuring Amy Acton’s estranged mother drew swift bipartisan criticism, including from some elected Republicans.?
“Others are defending it,” she noted. “I find this troubling, and it leads me to believe we’ll see more ads like this one.”
Bunker said that the advertisements receiving the most attention from the public are not ones that showcase a candidate’s policies, which she noted in any other industry would not get a person a job.?
“In political advertising, there is some academic understanding that attack ads tend to stay in our memories longer because they tap into anger and possible perceived threats,” Bunker stated. “So, while they may not persuade anyone to change their mind, they do sometimes motivate [to] debate and to take action. This can be effective in getting people to the polls, which is why we see more and more negative ads, like the ones we are seeing from both sides this midterm cycle.”
Speakman said Ohio’s midterm elections’ advertisements are losing touch with reality and serve to further divide voters.
“It’s really just contributing to the insane degree of partisanship that we have begun to observe, or we have observed, over the last 10 years,” Speakman said. “I think it has shifted our politics towards more of like a social status or a social club.”
Willmitch said that general political advertisements in this midterm election attempt to win over independent voters and motivate people to go out and vote.
“The end goal with these ads is trying to remind people of their policy positions and their stances on the issue while trying to also remind people potentially of past records or past statements of the political opponent that they’re running against,” Willmitch said.
According to Campbell, the Ramaswamy ad featuring Acton’s mother brings up conversation and debate over the norms for campaigning and marketing.
“I do think that they are changing the landscape of the campaign, how people talk about, and make sense of, these messages,” Campbell said.?
Ramaswamy’s campaign said on Tuesday that it will continue promoting the advertisement featuring Acton’s mother, spending $4 million to do so.
