Wednesday’s Polymarket snapshot put Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy at 22% and Democratic rival Amy Acton at 79% in Ohio’s governor race after an ad featuring Acton’s mother circulated, The Independent reported.
Roughly a year earlier, the market showed Ramaswamy at 71% and Acton at 30%, according to The Independent. The older figures had Ramaswamy ahead; Wednesday’s market reading favored Acton.
The Independent reported that a clip shared on social media Tuesday featured Donna Arthur criticizing her daughter and urging Ohioans to reject her candidacy. Acton’s campaign called the ad a “disgusting smear” and said it used her “estranged, abusive mother.”
Ramaswamy had told reporters the video came from his campaign, as EconoTimes covered in an earlier report on that acknowledgment. His team said it did not know the history between Acton and her mother and accused Acton of repeatedly misleading the public, The Independent reported.
A heckler at Ramaswamy’s Westerville event Tuesday shouted, “She was 12 years old,” The Independent reported. The Independent said the shout appeared to invoke allegations that Acton’s stepfather sexually abused her during childhood. Acton’s brother, Philip Stearns, accused Ramaswamy of making his sister’s childhood sexual abuse a campaign issue, according to the outlet.
Vice President JD Vance defended the ad while campaigning for Ramaswamy in Cincinnati Wednesday, saying the commercial called Acton a liar, The Independent reported. Conservative commentator Meghan McCain criticized it as “dastardly” in a post on X Tuesday, the outlet said.
Before the ad appeared, a Marist Poll survey of likely voters conducted Oct. 15-18 gave Acton a 50% to 43% lead over Ramaswamy, with a 4.5-point margin of error. An ActiVote poll released Oct. 19 put Ramaswamy ahead 51.4% to 48.6%; its survey ran Sept. 27-Oct. 19 and had a 4.9-point margin of error, according to EconoTimes’ earlier coverage.
Ohio voters are scheduled to elect a governor Nov. 3.
