Ramaswamy Pulls Divisive Ad Featuring His Democratic Opponent’s Mother as Polls Indicate It Backfired

Ohio’s Republican gubernatorial nominee, Vivek Ramaswamy, has pulled a controversial ad that featured the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent as polls appear to show that it has backfired on his campaign.Last week, Mr. Ramaswamy’s campaign began promoting an ad featuring Donna Arthur — the mother of the Democratic candidate, Amy Acton. Ms. Arthur accused Ms. Acton of being a serial liar, described her as unwell, and told viewers that she “needs help.”The ad was heavily criticized even before the announcement that the campaign intended to spend $4 million to promote it, as Ms. Acton said she had been sexually abused by Ms. Arthur’s late husband and that her mother “did nothing to protect me.” Mr. Ramaswamy told the Columbus Dispatch on Thursday that the ad had run “to completion” and was being taken down. The Republican hopeful previously defended the ad. However, by the time his campaign decided to pull it, it had spent only about a quarter of what it originally planned. The move comes as several polls show that the strategy of using Ms. Arthur to attack Ms. Acton appears to have backfired.An Economist/YouGov poll released on Thursday found that most registered voters disapproved of it. The pollsters divided respondents into two groups — one that heard only a description of the ad, and another that was given more context about Ms. Acton’s relationship with Ms. Arthur. Among respondents who heard only a description of the ad, 22 percent said they strongly or somewhat approved of it, while 55 percent said they disapproved.Among respondents who heard the whole context, 64 percent disapproved of the ad and only 13 percent approved. The poll also found that Mr. Ramaswamy’s net favorability rating had dropped among Republicans. In the latest survey, his net favorability among Republicans was +34, down from +52 in January 2025, the last time the Economist/YouGov poll asked voters for their views of him.Meanwhile, his net favorability rating is underwater among independents and Democrats by double digits. Earlier this week, Axios reported that a poll conducted for Republicans found that by a 2-to-1 ratio, voters who were familiar with the ad said they would be more likely to vote for Ms. Acton because of it. Even before the ad was released, Ms. Acton appeared to be competitive in the race to replace the outgoing Republican governor, Mike DeWine. Several polls released before the ad came out showed Ms. Acton leading. Ohio has not elected a Democrat for governor in 20 years. However, RealClearPolitics’ average of polls shows that Ms. Acton holds a roughly 4-point lead over Mr. Ramaswamy. On Friday, the former chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, told C-SPAN that she believes the ad was a “miss.”“It’s hurt Vivek. It might hurt the rest of the ticket,” Ms. McDaniel said. Senator Jon Husted, who was appointed to fill the seat left vacant by Vice President JD Vance after the 2024 election, is locked in a tough election battle against a former Democratic senator, Sherrod Brown.

Ramaswamy Pulls Divisive Ad Featuring His Democratic Opponent’s Mother as Polls Indicate It Backfired

Ramaswamy Pulls Divisive Ad Featuring His Democratic Opponent’s Mother as Polls Indicate It Backfired

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