Connie Luck says Acton has serious problems with the truth
A recently released advertisement from the Ramaswamy campaign, which circulated among conservatives on social media, featured Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur. Arthur said: “She says she grew up living in a tent. None of that is true. She’s lied her entire life.” The campaign said the advertisement sought to cast doubt on Acton’s recollection of her childhood.
Connie Luck, a spokesperson for the Ramaswamy campaign, said: “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.” Luck added: “Everyone who knows her best – her former boss, her former state colleagues, her fellow physicians, and now her own mother – are clearly warning Ohioans not to vote for her. Ohioans deserve to know that.”
In a Tuesday statement released by Acton’s campaign, her brother Philip Stearns said Acton is estranged from her mother, who had married a man that sexually abused Acton when she was 12. Stearns added that Arthur remained in the marriage even after her husband was arrested and her children were taken away from her. Stearns said: “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 also said: “After he was arrested and Amy and I were removed from their custody, our birth mother stayed married to Amy’s rapist until he died. 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.”
Democrats condemned the advertisement. Cincinnati-area congressman Greg Landsman called it “one of the most despicable things I’ve ever seen in politics”. The Democratic Governors Association said: “With this disgusting attack, and the relentless smear campaign leading up to it, Vivek Ramaswamy has shown that there is no depth he will not sink to if it serves his own ambitions.”
Acton directed Ohio’s public health department between 2019 and 2020 and oversaw the state’s initial response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In an interview with the Youngstown Vindicator, she said her stepfather had a history of molestation and was arrested for his actions toward her. She also described living in a tent outside a city in northeast Ohio.
Arthur separately described being present at grand jury proceedings related to Acton’s abuse allegations in a 2020 interview with Operation Rescue, an anti-abortion group.
Acton and Ramaswamy are competing for Ohio’s governorship in the 3 November midterm elections. The Guardian described Ohio as a right-leaning state and said polls had indicated the race was “either’s to lose.” The Guardian also described the campaign as “one of the uglier contests in the 3 November midterm elections.”
The Bulwark first reported Acton’s criticism of the advertisement, which featured a woman married to a registered sex offender. The outlet also reported that Acton had refused to debate Ramaswamy and had called him a “chronic liar.”
In a separate incident last month, an armed man lunged at Acton during a campaign stop at a county fair, leaving several attendees injured before he was arrested. Acton was not hurt in the incident.
Photo: Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images. Ramaswamy speaks during a campaign rally in Vandalia, Ohio, on 3 October 2026.