COLUMBUS — In a dramatic Thursday morning press conference called inside the Statehouse Rotunda, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine issued a scathing rebuke of his endorsed successor, Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy.
The subject of DeWine’s public condemnation: a highly controversial, weaponized attack ad featuring the estranged birth mother of Democratic nominee Dr. Amy Acton. In the commercial, Acton’s mother accuses her daughter of being a “liar” regarding her childhood history of homelessness and abuse.
“It’s deeply, deeply, deeply troubling,” DeWine told reporters. “It needs to come down; it’s just wrong to continue to run it.”Yet, despite calling the ad indefensible and urging the campaign to pull it down immediately, DeWine made it clear that his political loyalty remains anchored to party lines. When pressed on whether he would withdraw his endorsement of Ramaswamy, DeWine refused.
“Today it is about the ad, but I’m not, no, I’m not changing endorsement,” DeWine said. “I endorse the whole ticket. In that ticket are some amazing people, almost all of whom I have worked with in the past.”
Back story
The ad—which Ramaswamy took credit for earlier this week after it leaked online without standard disclosure disclaimers—attempts to undermine Acton’s credibility as she leads in general election polling.
However, Mahoning County Court records and public documentation flatly contradict the ad’s premise and confirm the tragic reality of Acton’s childhood.
When Acton was 12 years old, her stepfather, Cledith Arthur, was arrested and indicted for sexually abusing her over a two-year period. Court records show that after posting bond, Arthur fled the jurisdiction and remained a fugitive from justice until his death in 2004. Acton’s birth mother lost custody of her children following the arrest and remained married to Arthur until his death. Acton has had no contact with her mother since testifying in court as a child.
Acton’s campaign released a forceful response ad featuring her brother, Philip Stearns, who called Ramaswamy’s tactic a “despicable low” that attempts to turn severe childhood sexual abuse into a political talking point.
DeWine’s duality: Prosecutor vs. party regular
DeWine—who served alongside Acton during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when she was Director of the Ohio Department of Health—explicitly vouched for her character.
“In regard to telling the truth, my experience with her and working closely with her every single day was that she certainly told the truth; that’s my experience,” DeWine stated.
DeWine invoked his long career as a county prosecutor and Ohio Attorney General, reflecting on his work protecting victims of sexual assault.
“During that time and getting ready for trial, we spent a lot of time with the rape victims and I think that’s the first time that I really had some real sense of the trauma that a rape victim suffers: the pain, how tough it was for them,” DeWine reflected. “These were very, very brave women that we worked with… And so my admiration for them, I can’t even describe it.”
Yet, when asked how he reconciles those core values with maintaining an endorsement of the candidate weaponizing that exact trauma, DeWine retreated into partisan pragmatism.
“Look, I’m a Republican, and so I did my endorsement a few months ago,” DeWine said. “What I wanted to talk today about is this ad.”
He added that with early voting already underway across Ohio, voter opinion on his personal endorsement is largely set. “They’ve been voting for some time, so what Mike DeWine thinks or who he endorses is pretty irrelevant.”
Takeaway
DeWine’s Rotunda press conference exposes the core tension within contemporary establishment Republican politics: a desire to maintain institutional norms and moral decency, paired with an unwillingness to break party unity even when candidates cross explicit human boundaries.
By condemning the weaponization of childhood abuse while preserving his endorsement of the candidate responsible for it, DeWine highlights the stark choices voters face as Ohio’s gubernatorial campaign enters its final days.
Thank god some Republicans are speaking out...and about GD time!