Election 2026

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Newly surfaced court records from 1978 are backing up Amy Acton's account of her childhood, days after a campaign ad accused her of lying about it. The ad, from Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign, features Acton's estranged mother, Donna Arthur, calling her daughter a liar and saying her story of growing up in a tent was invented. Acton, now the Democratic nominee for Ohio governor, was removed from her mother's custody at age 12 and says she has had no contact with her since.

The documents show a grand jury indicted Acton's stepfather, Cledith Arthur, in 1978 on a rape charge involving sexual conduct with her while she was under 13. He failed to appear in court and became a fugitive. A judge ordered an arrest warrant in October 1978, another was issued in 1981, and authorities were still looking for him years after that. He was never arrested again and never stood trial. He died in 2004. Her brother, Phil Stearns, has publicly described the abuse both siblings endured. Independent fact checks have rated the ad false, while Ramaswamy has taken responsibility for it and defended it.

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