Ohio’s ugliest political ad of 2026 targets Amy Acton’s family history
A long-running family estrangement
Acton and her mother have both said they have not spoken in nearly 50 years. Her mother remained married to Acton’s stepfather until his death. The ad’s accusations have drawn criticism as a particularly harsh turn in an Ohio race already marked by personal attacks. Republicans have previously called Acton “violent” and “unstable,” and portrayed her as a drunk or a horror-movie character. A longtime Ohio political observer described the campaign’s tone as “alarming.”
A broader pattern of negative politics
A study published last month in the American Political Science Review examined 4.7 million tweets, 2.4 million Facebook posts and 184,000 congressional email newsletters from 2009 to 2022. Researchers found increasingly partisan and negative communication across all three formats.
Attention can reward hostility
A 2022 study of X posts from 2009 to 2019 found that “uncivil” tweets received the most engagement. Politicians whose hostile posts earned many likes and retweets went on to publish more of them, potentially making backlash to Ramaswamy’s ad less of a deterrent.
Key points
- Ramaswamy is spending $4 million on a 60-second ad attacking Amy Acton.
- Acton’s stepfather was arrested and charged in 1978 but died without facing trial.
- Researchers found political communication grew more partisan and negative from 2009 to 2022.
- A 2022 study found engagement with uncivil posts was associated with politicians making more of them.