You would think a mother would keep quiet during a hard election race. Not in Ohio this week. Donna Arthur, the estranged mother of Democratic candidate Amy Acton, just dropped a video that calls her own daughter a liar. The race between Acton and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy has become close in the final two weeks, according to NBC News. Now the mother is telling voters not to pick the daughter.
The video appeared on social media Tuesday. She does not hold back. “I love my daughter, but when I saw her lying about her opponent, it’s not easy for a mother to say this, but Amy has a serious problem,” Arthur says in the clip. She calls Acton a liar and says she has lied her entire life.
Arthur targets specific stories Acton tells about her childhood. “She says she grew up living in a tent. None of that is true. She’s lied her entire life,” Arthur states in the video, according to RedState. She urges people to “Don’t vote for people who lie. Don’t let her become your governor.” Arthur adds that her daughter needs help because she cannot help others if she needs help herself.
BOMBSHELL:
Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton’s own mother urges voters not to vote for her daughter.
“My name is Donna Arthur and I’m Amy Acton’s mother. I worked at Children and Family Service Association, building one of the first two sexual abuse programs in America.
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.
My daughter needs help, and she can’t help you if she needs help herself. People can change, but first they have to tell the truth, and my daughter still isn’t doing that.
Don’t vote for people who lie. Don’t let her become your governor. If you think she’ll make your life better, you’re fooling yourself. It will only get worse.”
That’s one hell of an October surprise.
— Walter Curt (@wcdispatch) October 20, 2026
Acton’s campaign says this ad is a dirty trick. They claim the ad exploits Acton’s history as a child sex abuse survivor. Per New York Post, Acton claims her mother facilitated the assault by the man who raped her at age 12. Her brother, Philip Stearns, says the opponent has “stooped to such a despicable low” to turn that abuse into a talking point.
It remains unclear who actually paid for this spot. New York Post states that the sponsor of the advertisement remained unidentified. Ramaswamy’s campaign did not immediately comment on Tuesday when the video surfaced. Acton’s camp hit out at Ramaswamy immediately after the video went online.
Stearns says their birth mother stayed married to the man who abused Amy until he died. “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,” Stearns told Breitbart. He calls the attack a “desperate, disgusting attack” that reveals who Ramaswamy is at his core.
The ad ends with a stark warning from the mother. “If you think she’ll make your life better, you’re fooling yourself. It will only get worse,” Arthur says, per RedState. She insists that people can change only if they tell the truth first. She claims her daughter still isn’t doing that.
