Ohio Democratic gubernatorial nominee Dr. Amy Acton said Saturday she hopes President Trump and Vice President JD Vance will "look at the facts" after both men defended a Republican attack ad built around her estranged birth mother, just nine days before Ohioans vote in one of the country's most-watched governor's races.

The ad, from GOP nominee Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign, features Donna Arthur calling her daughter a liar and suggesting she has mental health problems. It does not mention why Acton has been estranged from her mother: court records show Arthur's then-husband, Cledith Arthur, was arrested and charged in 1978 with raping his stepdaughter, then 12, after Acton's biological father reported him. Arthur lost custody of her children, and Cledith Arthur fled the state before trial and died in 2004 without ever facing a verdict. Acton has said the abuse ran from 1976 to 1978 and that she later experienced periods of homelessness as a child.

Millions on air, mother at the center

Ramaswamy's campaign confirmed it will spend $4 million airing the ad on television and online through Election Day, Nov. 3. Asked about it, Vance said he was "a little bit disgusted" — not at the ad, but at fellow Republicans who criticized it, arguing Democrats have thrown "every dirty trick in the political book" at Ramaswamy. Trump separately dismissed questions about the abuse allegations, saying the ad has "nothing to do" with Acton's stepfather. Ramaswamy himself told reporters the spot is "about lying" and that Acton is misrepresenting his record and her own.

"MY JOB IS TO WORK WITH ANYONE ON ANY SIDE OF THE AISLE TO SOLVE PROBLEMS INSTEAD OF MAKING THEM, AND I WOULD SAY I DO HOPE THEY WOULD LOOK AT THE FACTS," Acton told ABC News, adding she has "no words" for Ramaswamy and believes "there is no low that he wouldn't sink to."

The backlash has not stayed within party lines. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine called the ad "deeply, deeply troubling" and said it should be pulled — though he stopped short of withdrawing his own endorsement of Ramaswamy. On Sunday, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reversed an earlier decision not to endorse in the race and backed Acton outright, with its editorial board writing that a candidate who "weaponizes" an opponent's childhood sexual abuse "has crossed a line that Ohioans should defend, whatever their party." A Ramaswamy campaign spokesperson dismissed the endorsement, saying anyone surprised the paper backed "the liberal" was "fooling themselves."

The flap landed as the race enters its final sprint. Former President Barack Obama rallied with Acton and Sen. Sherrod Brown in Cleveland on Oct. 24, telling the crowd Ramaswamy was "thirsty" for attention. Acton, Ohio's former state health director during the COVID-19 pandemic, is running in a contest both parties now rate as competitive, with early and in-person voting already underway statewide ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

Neither campaign has signaled it will change course before polls close. Acton's team has said her personal story is "not the centerpiece" of her campaign and has otherwise declined to engage further with Vance's comments, while Ramaswamy's campaign has given no indication it will pull the ad from air with nine days left before Ohio picks its next governor.