COLUMBUS, Ohio — Democrat Dr. Amy Acton received hugs from voters at the polls in Columbus, as both she and many Ohioans say "decency" is on the ballot. This is after her opponent, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, pulled his controversial ad featuring her estranged mother off air.
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In the final weeks of the contentious and expensive campaigns to lead the state, voters gave Acton an outpouring of support.
"I love you," an older woman voter told the Democrat. "I always have. You're the s***!"
Voters waited their turns to talk to Acton as she made a surprise appearance at the Franklin County Board of Elections.
"You're going to be the next governor," a young man said to Acton. "I love it."
A middle-aged woman approached Acton's running mate, David Pepper, to tell him that she voted for the pair and that she was "praying."
For the past two weeks, protesters, voters and politicians have condemned Ramaswamy's political ad, one in which Acton's birth mother repeatedly calls her a liar.
Mahoning County records show that Acton's stepfather was arrested and charged with raping her when she was 12 years old. Her mother lost custody, and after pleading not guilty, the couple fled. The stepfather became a fugitive of the state until he died in 2004. Acton said she hasn't spoken to her mother in 50 years.
"The fact that he would want to re-traumatize a woman who was raped as a 12-year-old is the lowest of the low," Judy Routhier, a Westlake resident, said after protesting outside a Ramaswamy event.
Multiple voters specifically told us over the past week that they couldn't vote for Ramaswamy out of "human decency."
It's not just blue strongholds protesting or giving love to Acton. Republicans, especially women, have come online to share that they will not be voting for Ramaswamy.
"If one must sell one’s soul and reject decency to be elected to office in Ohio, then I praise my Savior and Protector that the Ohio GOP pushed Dave out of the race a year before the primary," Darlene Yost, wife of former Attorney General Dave Yost, wrote on social media. "Lord forgive us - and save our republic."
Yost continued, saying that even as a lifelong conservative, she is "unable to vote for a candidate that would even consider the ad."
"My opponent has chosen to exploit — intentionally — my childhood to-" Acton said, before being cut off by boos from a Cleveland audience. "-To save his struggling campaign, but it's not going to work."
Riding the momentum, Acton has started using the "decency" language as a campaign push.
"Decency, compassion, and kindness are on the ballot this election," Acton said Friday.
Ramaswamy has been playing defense.
"I will never quit on this state," Ramaswamy said Thursday in Dayton. "I will never quit on you."
But he did quit airing the ad on television.
"It ran to completion, and we've put up four other ads," Ramaswamy told reporters after his speech.
The ad was supposed to run through the election, per the WEWS-TV sales department.
While President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance supported the ad, some Republicans told us that the backlash was too much, and they feared it could impact the entire ticket.
Gov. Mike DeWine called reporters to the Statehouse last week, where he told Ramaswamy to pull the ad.
First, Ramaswamy doubled down.
"That's why I want to debate, to be able to defend my record and to be able to defend my actual positions," Ramaswamy said last week. "And if she believes that any criticisms of her are unfair or inaccurate, she would want to do the same thing."
Then he tried to change the narrative.
WATCH RELATED: Ramaswamy tries to reframe controversial ad, claiming it wasn’t about child sex abuse amid protests
"Our ad had nothing, nothing to do with childhood abuse, sexual abuse," Ramaswamy said a few days after his original thoughts. "We condemn that as forcefully as anyone."
But now, he is trying to distance himself from it.
"I would love even for this final close, for this campaign to really be about policy, about what are we gonna do to fight for Ohioans," he said Thursday.
Acton has been able to use the dredging up of her childhood trauma, explaining how she is focused on affordability, while she says her opponent is focused on her childhood.
"I'm going to make childcare affordable, lower utility bills, make sure parents and our families can age in place with dignity... In Ohio, we work hard, and we watch out for one another," Acton said at a campaign event. "My opponent just doesn't get it."
"Do you think that the ad featuring your mother backfired?" I asked Acton.
"First of all, I just want to thank everybody. We've had such an incredible amount of love and support," Acton responded. "I will tell you also, over the last week, so many people have been coming up at the rallies, at the rope lines, sharing their stories."
Many people have experienced abuse, she said, which is why she is fighting for Ohioans.
"It was absolutely despicable to do this, and I will say also that it's clear that my mom is not well — my birth mother. I've not seen her since I was 12," Acton continued. "I really hope everyone is held accountable for their behavior in this."
Calling the ad a "travesty," Acton said that Ramaswamy is "a danger to my state."
Ohioans will see how much damage the ad really did on election night.
Follow Statehouse and Columbus bureau reporter Morgan Trau on X, Instagram and Facebook. Email her at Morgan.Trau@wews.com.
