2026年10月20日 / 美国东部时间下午6:39 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
一则来历不明的新攻击广告中，俄亥俄州州长竞选民主党候选人艾米·阿克顿的疏远母亲称其为“骗子”，并为其共和党竞争对手维韦克·拉马斯瓦米辩护。阿克顿的竞选团队和她的兄弟谴责这则广告是“卑劣的下流手段”。
广告中，阿克顿的母亲唐娜·阿瑟——其丈夫曾被指控在阿克顿童年时期强奸她——说道：“身为母亲说出这番话并不容易，但艾米一直是个大麻烦。她是个骗子，她在自己的过往经历上撒谎。”
阿克顿的兄弟菲利普·斯蒂恩斯对此抨击拉马斯瓦米：“维韦克·拉马斯瓦米竟然堕落到如此卑劣的地步，试图将艾米12岁时遭受的性虐待——来自我们生母的丈夫——当作政治攻击点，这并不令人意外。”
他表示，在继父爱德西思·阿瑟被逮捕并指控后，他和阿克顿被从阿瑟家的监护权中移出，与父亲一同生活。
“我们的生母直到艾米的强奸犯去世后，才与他离婚，”斯蒂恩斯说道，“这场 desperate（绝望的）、令人作呕的攻击恰好暴露了维韦克·拉马斯瓦米的本质——一个可悲的男人，只要能达到目的，就愿意伤害任何人。”
这则广告于周一晚间在社交媒体上流传，未按规定披露广告的出资方和授权方。它尚未在电视或有线电视台播出，但已在社交媒体上广泛传播。
拉马斯瓦米的发言人康妮·拉克并未回应其竞选团队是否出资制作这则广告的提问，但在周二的一份声明中表示：“我们不清楚艾米和她母亲之间发生了什么，她母亲首次公开谈论艾米是在2020年，但我们知道艾米·阿克顿是个惯于撒谎的人，她在真相问题上存在严重问题，公众在决定将州长一职托付给谁之前，需要了解这一点。”
俄亥俄州共和党委员会未立即回应置评请求。
阿克顿曾在共和党州长迈克·德温任内担任该州公共卫生专员，负责新冠疫情应对工作，她此前曾公开谈及自己已故继父亲对其实施的虐待。根据竞选团队提供的法庭记录，1978年，阿瑟因在阿克顿10至12岁时强奸她而被起诉，他当时做了无罪抗辩。
阿克顿还详细讲述过自己童年早期经历贫困和无家可归的困境，其竞选团队提供的记录显示，她的一家曾在帐篷里生活了一年。
阿克顿2019年在接受《扬斯敦卫报》采访时表示，在她和兄弟能够与父亲一同生活后，他们的生活变得更加稳定。
“在法庭上他被指控后，我上前想亲她一下，她却转过脸去，”阿克顿在七年前接受《卫报》采访时说道，“那是我最后一次见到她。”她的竞选团队表示，那次法庭出庭仍是阿克顿最后一次见到生母。
该新闻网站称，她的母亲和继父在获得保释后，未接受庭审便离开了俄亥俄州。根据法庭记录，此后数年内，警方至少两次发布了针对艾德西思·阿瑟的逮捕令。唐娜和艾德西思·阿瑟后来在宾夕法尼亚州生活，直到艾德西思于2004年去世。
拉马斯瓦米的支持者此前已对阿克顿发起过其他人身攻击，阿克顿在过去一个月的民调中一直处于领先地位。
竞选期间，阿克顿个人生活的其他方面也被重新翻出，包括2019年警方因一起被定性为家庭纠纷的事件前往其家中的风波。
Ohio governor’s race takes ugly turn with attack ad featuring Amy Acton’s estranged mother
October 20, 2026 / 6:39 PM EDT / CBS News
A new attack ad with unknown origins features the estranged mother of Democratic candidate for Ohio governor Amy Acton calling her a “liar” and defending her GOP opponent Vivek Ramaswamy. Acton’s campaign and her brother denounced the ad as a “despicable low.”
Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, whose husband was accused of raping Acton when she was a child, says in the spot, “It’s not easy for a mother to say this, but Amy was a serious problem. She is a liar; she lies about her past.”
Acton’s brother, Philip Stearns, lashed out at Ramaswamy in response: “It’s not surprising that Vivek Ramaswamy has stooped to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at twelve years old from our birth mother’s husband into a political talking point.”
He said that after their stepfather, Cledith Arthur, was arrested and charged, he and Acton were removed from the Arthurs’ custody and lived with their father.
“Our birth mother stayed married to Amy’s rapist until he died,” Stearns said. “This desperate, disgusting attack reveals exactly who Vivek Ramaswamy is at his core – a pathetic excuse for a man who is willing to hurt anyone as long as it gets him what he wants.”
The ad, which circulated on social media on Monday night, lacks the mandatory disclosure of who paid for and authorized the commercial. It has not aired on TV or cable but has been widely circulated on social media.
Connie Luck, a spokesperson for Ramaswamy, did not respond to a question about whether his campaign paid for the ad, but said in a statement on Tuesday, “We don’t know what happened between Amy and her mother, who first spoke out about Amy in 2020, but we know that Amy Acton is a serial fabulist who has some serious problems with the truth that the public needs to be aware of before deciding who to entrust as governor.”
The state Republican Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Acton, who served as the state’s public health commissioner under GOP Gov. Mike DeWine during the pandemic, has previously talked about being abused by her now-deceased stepfather. According to court records provided by the campaign, in 1978, Arthur was charged with raping Acton, when she was between 10 and 12 years old. He entered a not guilty plea.
Acton has also detailed struggles throughout her early childhood with poverty and homelessness, and records provided by her campaign show that the family lived in a tent for a year.
Acton told the Youngstown Vindicator in 2019 that once she and her brother were able to go live with their father, their lives became more stable.
“In the courthouse after they were charged, I went to give her a kiss, and she just turned her cheek away,” Acton told The Vindicator seven years ago. “That was the last time I ever saw her.” Her campaign says that court date remains the last time Acton saw her mother.
Her mother and her stepfather, released on bond, left Ohio without facing charges, the news site said. Warrants were issued for Cledith Arthur’s arrest at least twice in the next few years, according to court records. Donna and Cledith Arthur lived in Pennsylvania until Cledith’s death in 2004.
Ramaswamy’s backers have launched other personal attacks against Acton, who has been leading in polls over the last month.
Other aspects of Acton’s personal life have also resurfaced during the election, including an incident when police were called to her home in 2019 during what was characterized as a domestic dispute.
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