Zero Votes for Amy? Acton’s Own Mother Urges Ohio to Reject Her

With Election Day only weeks away, a one-minute video landed on social media Monday night and instantly became the most talked about moment of the Ohio governor’s race. In it, a woman introduces herself as Donna Arthur, the mother of Democratic nominee Amy Acton, and asks voters to reject her own daughter.

The clip first appeared on X, posted by journalist Walter Curt, and it spread within hours. There is no polite way to describe what the mother says on camera. She tells Ohioans that her daughter has a serious problem with the truth.

Arthur describes her own career first, saying she worked at the Children and Family Service Association and helped build one of the first two sexual abuse programs in America. Then she turns to her daughter. She says she loves Amy, but she cannot stay quiet.

The heart of her accusation is that Acton has been dishonest about her past. Arthur specifically disputes the story Acton has told about living in a tent while growing up, and she says her daughter has been telling stories her entire life.

Arthur ends with a plea that is hard to forget. She says her daughter needs help, that people can change only after they tell the truth, and that Ohioans should not let her become their governor.

The backdrop matters, because the video arrived just as Acton’s campaign has built its message around her personal story. In recent interviews, including one with Cleveland 10 News, the former state health director has spoken openly about hardship and abuse in her childhood.

And this is where the story gets complicated. Acton has said she was sexually abused at age 12 by her stepfather, who faced criminal charges, and that her mother sided with him. Those are painful allegations, and Acton and her family see the video as a cruel betrayal.

Acton’s brother, Philip Stearns, publicly blasted the ad as disgusting. He said that after their stepfather was arrested and the children were removed from the home, their mother stayed married to the man until he died.

Acton herself called the ad awful, and she accused her opponent, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, of taking advantage of her estranged mother. Her campaign did not immediately respond when the video first began to circulate.

The two women have been estranged for years. Reports note that Arthur first spoke out publicly about her daughter back in 2020, so the family rift is not new, even if the audience for it certainly is.

The Ramaswamy campaign was unapologetic. Spokeswoman Connie Luck said the campaign does not know what happened between mother and daughter, but she argued that Acton is a serial fabulist whose problems with the truth voters need to understand before choosing a governor.

Then came the twist. Axios reported on Wednesday that Ramaswamy’s campaign is putting $4 million behind the one-minute spot, doubling down even after criticism from across the political spectrum. The ad had previously spread online but had not aired on television.

That is a huge bet in a race that polling suggests is tightening. CNN data analyst Harry Enten said this week that the contest has flipped, and he put Acton ahead by about four points as Election Day approaches.

Supporters of the Republican side say the logic is simple. Credibility is the foundation of public trust, and they argue that a candidate who builds a campaign on a personal narrative should expect questions about whether every part of it holds up.

They also point to Acton’s record. She served as Ohio’s health director under Governor Mike DeWine and became the face of the state’s response to COVID-19, a period when her orders and public statements drew intense praise from some Ohioans and fierce criticism from others.