Husted tells AP he ‘would not have run that ad’
Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday called the ad by Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy “the biggest controversy” in Ohio’s governor’s race, elevating an advertisement that features comments from Democratic candidate Amy Acton’s estranged mother. The Wall Street Journal’s Washington coverage chief Damian Paletta wrote that the issue dominating the race concerns allegations about Amy Acton’s childhood and the Ramaswamy ad, and noted that Donald Trump Jr. has promoted the ad as well.
Sen. Jon Husted (R., Ohio) broke with the advertisement, telling the Associated Press: “I would not have run that ad.” Vance said “Politics is tough business” on Wednesday, and Paletta wrote that the Ohio race has been “one of the ugliest in recent memory.”
Paletta opened the newsletter by listing what Ohio has: the country’s seventh-most-populous state, annual GDP close to $1 trillion, 27 Fortune 500 companies, some of the country’s best universities, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and two NFL teams, two MLB teams, an NBA team and an NHL team. He then wrote that the issue currently dominating the governor’s race was none of them.
The pattern is not confined to Ohio. “Candidates are slugging it out all over the place,” Paletta wrote, noting that Democrat Troy Jackson refused to apologize for telling Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins to “shut up” during a debate, and that Texas has been a whole other story.
In Paletta’s assessment, the midterms have run on personal appeal rather than policy. “This has been, in some ways, an unusual midterm election,” he wrote. “It’s been personal from the get-go.” A lot of the cycle has come from people “channeling their feelings about President Trump and manifesting that into how they will vote,” and in a number of states, he wrote, candidates are trying to rip each other apart. If they succeed, the victors will not emerge from the midterms with a mandate to do anything; they will emerge bruised and battered.
The personal character of the cycle has coincided with heavy spending by Trump-aligned outside groups. Paletta reported that the MAGA Inc. super PAC raised about $25 million in the six weeks between Sept. 1 and Oct. 14, mainly from gambling billionaires, chief executives and financiers, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. The filings show that a network of super PACs affiliated with the president spent more than $237 million between September and mid-October on competitive races, including Senate contests in Texas and Michigan. Paletta described wealthy donors as fueling Trump’s final midterms push.
The newsletter also reported that U.S. lawmakers, including at least one Republican, are calling for a probe of Elon Musk’s handling of Ukraine’s Starlink service, following The Wall Street Journal’s reporting that the SpaceX CEO restricted Ukraine’s access to the company’s Starlink service. Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania said Congress should call Musk and other witnesses to testify under oath, and that Congress could block funding for any federal agencies or agency heads that played a role in throttling the network.
Middle East mediators are working to revive talks with Iran. Diplomats fear hostilities could flare again as the U.S. moves another aircraft carrier to the region and Israel warns it has prepared plans for possible new strikes. Trump has said the U.S. won’t attack Iran before midterms, but on Sunday on social media he threatened that unless Iran rapidly changes its behavior, the U.S. and Israel “will soon finish the job.”
Separately, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff’s recent praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin shocked Ukraine and its supporters, though it does not surprise close watchers of Witkoff’s handling of the Russia file. The New York City Council is expected to vote on Thursday, October 22, on banning the horse-carriage industry, an industry the newsletter said is over 100 years old. Trump is scheduled to hold a policy meeting at 12:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, then head to Sioux City, Iowa, in the afternoon for a midterm rally that evening.
Paletta wrote the newsletter as The Wall Street Journal’s Washington coverage chief, saying he has covered Washington for 22 years as a reporter and editor, including the White House, Congress, national security, the federal budget, economics and multiple market meltdowns. The edition was curated and edited in collaboration with Alistair Dawber and Emily Martocci.