There are lines in politics that shouldn’t be crossed, and then there’s whatever fresh hell the Ohio governor’s race just became. An attack ad surfaced this week featuring Amy Acton’s estranged mother calling her daughter a liar. That mother, Donna Arthur, stayed married to the man accused of raping Acton as a child. Let that sink in for a moment.

This isn’t hardball politics. This is something else entirely.

The ad itself is a masterclass in sleaze. Donna Arthur appears on camera saying it’s not easy for a mother to admit this, but Amy was a serious problem and lies about her past. What past are we talking about exactly? The one where her stepfather, Cledith Arthur, was charged with raping her when she was between ten and twelve years old? The past where she and her brother were removed from their mother’s custody and had to rebuild their lives with their father?

Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign won’t say whether they paid for this garbage. The ad lacks the mandatory disclosure about who authorized it, which tells you everything about the people behind it. When asked directly, Ramaswamy’s spokesperson dodged the question entirely and instead called Acton a “serial fabulist” with problems telling the truth. That’s rich coming from a campaign that just weaponized childhood sexual abuse.

Look, I believe in aggressive campaigning. Conservative values mean standing firm on principle and calling out your opponent’s record without apology. Free markets demand competition. Political races should be tough. But there’s a canyon of difference between tough and unconscionable.

Philip Stearns, Acton’s brother, put it bluntly. He said Ramaswamy stooped to a despicable low by turning sexual abuse into a talking point. After their stepfather was arrested and charged, the kids went to live with their dad while their mother stayed married to the accused rapist until he died in 2004. The last time Acton saw her mother was in a courthouse after the charges were filed. She tried to give her a kiss goodbye and her mother turned away.

That’s the woman now appearing in political ads against her daughter.

Court records back up Acton’s account. Cledith Arthur was charged in 1978 with rape. He pleaded not guilty, then he and Donna fled Ohio without facing charges. Warrants were issued for his arrest multiple times over the following years. They lived in Pennsylvania until his death two decades later. These aren’t disputed facts or gray areas open to interpretation.

Acton has been leading in polls recently, which might explain the desperation. When you’re behind and traditional attacks aren’t working, some campaigns apparently decide that exploiting childhood trauma is fair game. The state Republican Party hasn’t commented, which is its own kind of statement.

We talk a lot about family values on the right, and rightly so. Traditional principles matter because they protect the vulnerable and strengthen communities. But what traditional value says it’s acceptable to parade a woman who chose her husband over her sexually abused daughter in front of cameras for political gain? What limited government principle endorses using state power and public attention to re-traumatize rape survivors?

Acton served as Ohio’s public health commissioner under Republican Governor Mike DeWine during the pandemic. People can disagree with her policies. They can question her decisions. They can challenge her vision for Ohio’s future. That’s what campaigns are supposed to be about. Her childhood poverty, the year her family lived in a tent, her escape from an abusive home, none of that disqualifies her from office or makes her a liar.

This ad reveals something darker than partisan politics. It shows what happens when winning becomes the only value that matters, when there’s no floor beneath which campaigns won’t sink. Ramaswamy had a choice when this ad started circulating. He could have immediately and forcefully condemned it. He could have made clear that whatever his disagreements with Acton, exploiting child sexual abuse crosses every line. Instead his campaign called her a liar and suggested voters need to know about her “problems with the truth.”

Individual liberty means protecting people from abuse, not using their abuse against them. Strong national defense starts with defending the dignity of our own citizens. If we can’t draw the line at weaponizing child rape, where exactly can we draw it?

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