The Campaign of Desperation: How an attack ad made a red state competitive

By: Archie Hudson

A dramatic new development has been seen in the Ohio gubernatorial race as of 

recently. With a major swing towards the democrats, following the release of an extreme 4 million dollar attack ad by the Republican candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, targeted toward his opponent from the Democratic party, Amy Acton. This has drawn international eyes to the election, with severe backlash against Ramaswamy following the release of the ad. The ad features Donna Arthur, Acton's mother, who lost custody of Acton when she was about 11 years old due to Arthur’s husband raping Acton when she was very young. As a result, this ad has significant impacts, most importantly pushing the Acton campaign ahead in polling, meaning the Republicans risk losing a usually ruby red Ohio. This catastrophic misfire has turned into the Republicans' October surprise.

The attack ad itself has drawn major controversy as Donna Arthur attacks her daughter's character. She calls Acton a “liar," believing she “needs help” and “needs to tell the truth.” These statements are especially sensitive due to Acton’s trauma stemming from Donna Arthur's husband, Cledith Arthur, who raped Acton repeatedly from 1976 to 1978. These offences were accumulated within a court case in 1978 where Arthur defended her husband and remained in a relationship with him despite the allegations. Acton has been separated from her mother since this time. Acton’s brother, Philip Stearns, has supported his sister. Despite this abhorrence of the ad, Ramaswamy still decided to run it online and on television, causing deep friction in the Republican campaign team.

Various politicians, both Republicans and Democrats, have come out to either attack or defend the ad. Current Republican Ohio governor, Mike DeWine, called the ad “just wrong.” Additionally, former president Barack Obama said, “there’s no line (Ramaswamy) won’t cross”. However, there have been opposing responses, particularly from President Trump, telling Ramaswamy to “leave it up”. Vice president JD Vance has also criticised other GOP politicians for “whining”. These responses have major implications, as they can weaken or bolster the ad's intended influence. For example, DeWine's disapproval weakens the ad's messaging to GOP voters. This ad has divided the nations could have a major impact on the midterm elections, coming up on 3 November. 

The ad has caused major shifts toward Acton in recent polling. Specifically, the Cook political report moved the race from toss-up to Lean Democratic. Additionally, the Silver Bulletin has placed Acton 4.7 points ahead of Ramaswamy. These polls show that the decision Ramaswamy made regarding the ad has backfired. Critics have said that he is October surpris-ing himself, a term for when a candidate has a major scandal in October prior to election day. This race could also have implications for other elections in Ohio. Specifically, the Senate race, where Sherrod Brown wishes to beat incumbent Jon Husted and other House races across the state. This has created a major downballot shift towards the Democrats. Ohio is now more competitive than it has been in the last 8 years, with the potential for Ohio to have its first Democratic governor in over two decades.

Ultimately, this ad raises issues around campaign ethics. Whether attack ads regarding a candidate's traumatic past become the new normal or not.

On a different note, we have seen the rise of entirely new ads across electoral cycles around the world. Artificial intelligence (AI) in advertisements has been on the rise, especially to frame a candidate doing something unethical or controversial. A key example of this can be seen with AI ads concerning Pennsylvania governor, Josh Shapiro. These ads describe all his negative qualities around data centres, high taxes and pay raises. Ads like these will continue to get worse with the lack of regulation around AI. Additionally, since the Citizens United decision in 2010, Super PAC’s (Political Action Commitee) will continue to spend millions of dollars on elections to get their preferred candidate across the line. This highlights the key risks around the ethics of election advertisement and how the lack of regulation shows the potential for standards to continue to fall. 

Overall, Ramaswamy's ad featuring such personal attacks highlights his desperation in this election. Nonetheless, this attack dramatically backfired on him, with a bi-partisan call condemning the ad and a continued drop in his polling numbers.

I believe this ill-fated decision will cause him to lose the gubernatorial race and cause many other elections in Ohio to shift Blue. Additionally, this case raises concerns about campaign ethics and the lack of regulation in the sector. Without this regulation, I expect these types of ads will become the new normal unless some form of regulation is brought in.

Image: Photo Phiend