Exclusive: Ramaswamy doubles down on explosive ad featuring rival's mother, despite backlash

Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign for Ohio governor is pouring $4 million into a bombshell ad in which his opponent's estranged mother attacks her daughter — doubling down on the message despite fierce bipartisan backlash, Axios has learned. Why it matters: Ramaswamy is gambling that the deeply personal attack by Amy Acton's mother — who Acton has said sided with her stepfather after he sexually assaulted Acton when she was 12 — will resonate with voters. After the ad began appearing Tuesday on social media, many fellow Republicans urged Ramaswamy to distance his campaign from it. They warned it could backfire at a time when the controversy over the Epstein files has elevated the sexual abuse of children as a national campaign issue. Driving the news: Ramaswamy's campaign confirmed to Axios that it produced the ad, which began circulating on social media late Monday without language identifying its sponsor. Sources close to Ramaswamy's campaign said the ad tested well with "persuadable" voter