Nikki McCann Ramirez
View all posts by Nikki McCann Ramirez October 20, 2026 Add us as a Google Preferred Source
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Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at the Gigawatt Summit on May 22, 2026 in Park City, Utah. Natalie Behring/Getty Images The brother of Dr. Amy Acton has lashed out at Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, in response to a political ad featuring the siblings’ estranged mother urging Ohioans not to vote for her.
On Tuesday, Philip Stearns, Acton’s brother, issued a statement condemning the ad targeting the Democratic nominee.
“It’s not surprising that Vivek Ramaswamy has stooped to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at twelve years old from our birth mother’s husband into a political talking point,” Stearns wrote.
Stears added that the siblings’ mother was estranged because she had remained married to Acton’s rapist, Cledith Arthur, until his death. Arthur was arrested in 1978 and pleaded not guilty to charges related to raping Acton, but fled Ohio to evade prosecution. He died in 2004.
“This desperate, disgusting attack reveals exactly who Vivek Ramaswamy is at his core — a pathetic excuse for a man who is willing to hurt anyone as long as it gets him what he wants,” Stearns added.
— Dr. Amy Acton (@amyactonoh) October 20, 2026
It’s unclear whether the minute-long spot was produced directly by the Ramaswamy campaign, or by affiliated boosters. The Ramaswamy campaign did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation and additional comment from Rolling Stone.
In a statement given to The Cincinnati Enquirer, the Ramaswamy campaign said that they “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.”
The ad features Donna Arthur, the biological mother of Acton, who claims to have helped develop some of the first sexual abuse recovery programs in the country.
“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 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,” Arthur says in the ad.
