Amy Acton’s Mom Claims Candidate Lied About Childhood in Attack Ad — Despite Extensive Record of Abuse

The mother of Ohio Democratic gubernatorial nominee Amy Acton cut an ad Monday in which she accuses her daughter of lying about her childhood and encourages voters not to make her their next governor, but legal documents obtained by National Review provide evidence that Acton faced sexual abuse as a child while in her mother’s custody.

Donna Arthur, Acton’s estranged mother, says in the ad that life in Ohio “will only get worse” with Acton in the governor’s mansion, and she disputes parts of Acton’s personal history. But Acton has long maintained — even before becoming a political candidate — that she grew up in an unstable home when she lived with her mother following her parents’ divorce, even spending a winter in a tent in a campground outside of Youngstown and enduring sexual abuse by one of her mother’s male partners. Court records confirm many key parts of Acton’s account of her life.

“She is a liar. She lies about her past. She says she grew up living in a tent. None of that is true. She’s lied her entire life,” Acton’s mother says in the ad.