MK Pritzker, wife of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, has donated $500,000 to the campaign of Amy Acton, who is running for governor of Ohio. The donation came after Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy released campaign ads targeting Acton that feature her mother, with whom the candidate has had no contact for years.
The ads feature Donna Arthur, who cut off ties with Acton back in the 1970s. Arthur’s husband was accused of raping Acton when she was still a child. In the ad, Arthur calls the Democratic candidate a “liar.” Acton’s campaign and her brother condemned the ad, calling it a despicable move.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker posted a statement from his wife in which she addressed the donation in the context of the ads. “Bad people gain power when we don’t fight back,” MK Pritzker wrote. “Vivek Ramaswamy embodies everything that is wrong in politics today: arrogance, cruelty, dishonesty and the belief that in the pursuit of power, one may say and do anything. I will not sit silently while people like Vivek Ramaswamy exploit the suffering of an extraordinarily capable woman for their own political gain. There comes a moment when merely condemning someone’s actions is no longer enough, and we must go all in to defeat these MAGA people,” the statement from the wife of Gov. Pritzker continued.
She added: “This election is about standing up to tyrants, confronting extremism and making sure that people who profit from cruelty and division are not given license to hold power. Ohio deserves better. Ohio deserves to have Dr. Amy Acton as its governor – and I am ready to fight for her.” JB Pritzker referred to the situation in his own post, adding briefly: “I am proud that my wife, MK, is supporting Dr. Amy Acton today.”
Ramaswamy’s ad, which surfaced Tuesday, drew criticism from both Democrats and Republicans. “I would not have run this ad,” Republican Sen. Jon Husted said in a statement to the Associated Press. Husted is locked in a tight race with former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who on Tuesday called the ad disgusting. On Wednesday evening, Husted appeared in Ohio with Vice President J.D. Vance and Ramaswamy at a rally of Republican Party candidates. Vance said at the event that he was disgusted by Republicans’ pushback against Ramaswamy’s ad. Husted did not address the issue in his remarks.
Nikki Haley, who clashed with Ramaswamy during the 2024 Republican presidential primaries over the personal nature of his attacks, called him a bad person in a social media post on Tuesday. “It’s a shame he continues to get away with it,” she wrote. Ramaswamy has said he will spend $4 million to promote the ad, despite the negative reaction from some members of his party.
Acton, a former Ohio health director, has been open about experiencing homelessness and abuse in childhood. Arthur lost custody of her children after their stepfather was accused of raping Acton. Police and court records show that in July 1978, Cledith Arthur was arrested and charged with raping his stepdaughter, who was 12 at the time, after Acton’s biological father reported the case to law enforcement. The abuse allegedly took place between December 1976 and April 1978.
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Source: Polski.FM
