This week saw two top-tier midterm races roiled by controversy. In Ohio, Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy released an ad featuring the estranged birth mother of Amy Acton, his Democratic opponent, who accuses Acton of lying about her past. The ad was widely seen as exploiting the sexual assault Acton suffered as a child at the hands of her stepfather, after which Acton’s mother lost custody of her and her brother. Acton has not seen or spoken with her mother since 1978. After the ad spread virally online, Ramaswamy confirmed his campaign had produced it and pledged to spend $4 million to run it on TV. The ad drew bipartisan outrage, including from Ohio’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, who urged Ramaswamy to “take this down.” Donald Trump, on the other hand, said at an event on Thursday that Ramaswamy had called him for advice, and that he’d told him to leave the ad up and “thank God for it.” Meanwhile, Acton released her own ad featuring her brother, who says Ramaswamy is “not fit to lead.”
In the U.S. Senate race in Michigan, a video went viral of Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed at a town hall responding to a young man who asked whether El-Sayed would “disavow the Muslim Brotherhood.” The man was identified as Tommy Teepell, a former aide to Republican Senator Josh Hawley and the son of a Republican operative. In the clip, after El-Sayed says “Sure, yeah, absolutely,” he goes on to shame Teepell for even asking the question, exposing it as Islamophobic propaganda and making a poignant point about freedom of religion and his devotion to the Constitution. Donald Trump has also tried to slander El-Sayed as a “Muslim Brotherhood guy,” saying El-Sayed “hates our country” and is a “jihadist.” During their debate on Wednesday, Mike Rogers continued the attack, asking El-Sayed, “Are you for America or are you for these terrorist groups overseas?” El-Sayed responded, “I’m proud to be an American. I’m proud of our Constitution that guarantees all of us the right to pray as we choose to pray.” This week, El-Sayed also released an ad called “Prayer,” which counters the baseless attacks by leaning into his faith.
Democrats Bring Out Their Big Guns in Final Stretch
In the final stretch of the midterm campaign season, some of the Democratic Party’s best-known and most popular figures traveled the country this week to boost candidates’ chances on November 3.
