An ad from the Vivek Ramaswamy campaign has gained national attention and has cast a spotlight on the race for Ohio governor.
"All Sides" Host Amy Juravich spoke to two political experts on Wednesday morning.
Bowling Green State University political science professor Robert Alexander said Acton's response to the ad is powerful.
"When she said 'I am not a victim' very clearly, I think that was pretty powerful. I think it does lean into some of her characteristics that voters seem to really like."Robert Alexander, BGSU political science professor
"You don't run something like this if you feel like you're ahead," added Alexander. "I think this is kind of seen as I'm behind in the polls and I want to do something to bring myself back up."
Brianna Mack, a politics and government professor at Ohio Wesleyan, said the ad continues a theme we've seen this election cycle.
"It's unfortunately on par for where we are in the election season that this is the time, this last October rush. This is when folks are getting ready to take off the gloves and we have the most mudslinging."Brianna Mack, Ohio Wesleyan University professor of politics and government
Mack believes political ads have taken the place of the traditional debate in a lot of current political races.
"When you have these situations where you don't have the candidates facing each other on a public stage that the whole state can see," Mack said. "Eventually the ones that are saturating the market may actually end up determining the election."
When speaking with Juravich, Acton gave Ramaswamy's attack ad featuring her mother as one of the reasons she won't debate the billionaire. Acton told Juravich that the two have never met and corroborated a story Ramaswamy told where he tried to introduce himself at a Fraternal Order of Police event earlier this year.
Acton said Ramaswamy tried to approach her with a group of his supporters holding up cameras. She and her team refused to engage with him.
When asked if she would ever like to meet Ramaswamy, Acton said, "Absolutely not."
Ramaswamy defended the ad to reporters at an event in Westerville on Tuesday evening. When justifying it, he pointed to Acton's refusal to debate him.
Acton pointed to previous attack ads by Ramaswamy and his allies that sensationalized a police call to Acton's home for a "domestic dispute" in Aug. 2019. The ads try to portray Acton as a drug addict because she took her prescription medication that day and later drank wine before getting into an argument with her husband.
Other attack ads against Acton criticize her tenure as director of the Ohio Department of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic under Gov. Mike DeWine.
