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Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was interrupted by a protester during an event on Tuesday over a campaign ad featuring the estranged mother of Amy Acton, his Democratic opponent.
The heckler was seen shouting at Ramaswamy before police escorted him from the event at CrossPointe Church in Westerville, Ohio, footage shared by the local station WSYX showed.
In the ad, Acton's mother, Donna Arthur, accused her of lying and urged Ohio voters not to elect her in November.
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"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 said. "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."
Ramaswamy told WSYX: "It is an ad from our campaign. I would love for this race and this election to be about the substantive issues that impact Ohioans. Unfortunately, Amy Acton has been hiding from those issues. She won't debate me. She doesn't allow cameras at her events. And I think her record of continuously—certainly during this campaign—I would say spreading some defamatory, disparaging lies about me and my family that does deserve to be scrutinized, and this is part of a broader pattern."
Newsweek contacted the Ramaswamy and Acton campaigns for comment on Wednesday.
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The campaign ad has drawn wide criticism, including from political commentator Meghan McCain, who wrote on social media: "This is a dastardly ad. It never should have been created. Shame on whatever consultant firm created this."
Former Senator Sherrod Brown, the Democratic candidate in Ohio's U.S. Senate race, described the ad as "disgusting." He wrote on social media that everyone—including his Republican opponent, Senator Jon Husted—"should be willing to condemn this ad."
Ramaswamy Campaign Defends Video
"My daughter needs help, and she can't help you if she needs help herself," Arthur said in the video. "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."
The claims Arthur made have not been independently verified, although published reports have characterized Acton's childhood as unstable.
Acton told Ohio-based cable news outlet Spectrum News that she was removed from her birth mother "at the age of 12 for severe abuse and neglect and sexual abuse."
Local outlet WKBN has reported that her parents divorced when she was 3, and that she moved frequently with her mother, living in roughly 18 homes by age 12 and spending one winter in a campground tent.
Acton's brother, Philip Stearns, forcefully defended the Democratic candidate in a statement previously provided to Newsweek by Acton's campaign, accusing Ramaswamy of exploiting his sister's account of childhood sexual abuse for political purposes and condemning the video as a personal attack.
Connie Luck, a spokesperson for the Ramaswamy campaign, told Newsweek in an emailed statement on Tuesday: "We don't know what happened between Amy and her mother, who first spoke out about Amy in 2020, but we know that Amy Acton is a serial fabulist who has some serious problems with the truth that the public needs to be aware of before deciding who to entrust as governor."
"If Amy disagrees with these criticisms, she should stand before the people of Ohio, answer the questions, and let voters decide for themselves," Luck continued.
Addie Bullock, spokesperson for the Acton campaign said in a statement on the Ramaswamy campaign response, in part: "The choice to use, and then stand by, Dr. Acton’s estranged and abusive mother who stayed married to her rapist stepfather until the day he died shows Ohioans exactly who Vivek Ramaswamy is."
Ohio Governor Race: Latest Polls
Several recent polls show Acton, who served as the director of the Ohio Department of Health from 2019 to 2020, slightly ahead in the race to replace outgoing Republican Governor Mike DeWine, though Ramaswamy held a narrow lead in two recent surveys.
According to RealClearPolling, Marist's October 15-18 survey put Acton ahead 50 percent to 43 percent, with a 4.5-point margin of error. A Co/efficient poll conducted October 5-6 had Ramaswamy leading 45 percent to 43 percent, with a 3.5-point margin of error.
Bowling Green/YouGov's September 29 to October 9 survey showed Acton ahead 50 percent to 44 percent, with a 4-point margin of error, while CNN's September 29 to October 5 poll gave Acton a 50 percent to 42 percent lead, with a 4.5-point margin of error.
Big Data Poll's September 25-27 survey had Ramaswamy narrowly ahead 48 percent to 47 percent, with a 4-point margin of error, while The New York Times/Siena poll conducted September 22 to October 1 put Acton ahead 49 percent to 45 percent, with a 4.5-point margin of error.
Traders on prediction markets, which allow users to wager on the outcomes of real‑world events, were seemingly quick to respond to the video and backlash.
On Tuesday, the prediction market site Kalshi said Acton had hit a new high, with a 76 percent chance of winning the governor's mansion, while Ramaswamy's odds had sunk to 26.8 percent. Polymarket similarly showed on Tuesday that Ramaswamy's odds had fallen to a new low of 22 percent.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick and Shakeema Edwards.
Update, 10/22/26, 5:01 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional remarks.
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