伊利诺伊州的第一夫人MK·普里茨克周三宣布，她向民主党籍的俄亥俄州州长候选人艾米·阿克顿捐赠了50万美元。此前，共和党候选人维韦克·拉马斯瓦米（Vivek Ramaswamy）的竞选团队发布了一段视频，视频中阿克顿与母亲的关系破裂，她的母亲在视频中称女儿为“骗子”。MK·普里茨克在一份声明中表示：“当我们选择沉默、不愿反抗时，坏人就会掌权。维韦克·拉马斯瓦米完全代表了当今政治的弊端：傲慢、残忍、不诚实，以及为了权力可以不择手段的观念。”
Illinois first lady MK Pritzker announced on Wednesday that she donated $500,000 to Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton (D) after Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign released a video featuring Acton’s estranged mother calling her daughter a “liar.”“Bad men gain power when we refuse to stand up and fight. Vivek Ramaswamy represents everything that is wrong with our politics today: arrogance, cruelty, dishonesty, and the belief that it’s acceptable to say and do anything for power,” MK Pritzker, the wife of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D), a possible 2028 contender, said in a statement.
她是伊利诺伊州州长JB·普里茨克的妻子，JB·普里茨克本人也有望在2028年参加总统选举。“这场竞选的意义在于我们要勇敢地对抗霸凌和极端主义，绝不能让那些靠残忍和制造分裂来谋取权力的家伙逍遥法外。”她补充道：“俄亥俄州理应得到更好的领导；艾米·阿克顿才是适合担任州长的人选，我愿意为她挺身而出。”
“This race is about standing up to bullies, confronting extremism, and making damn sure that men who thrive on cruelty and division don’t get a free pass to govern,” she added. “Ohio deserves better, Ohio deserves Amy Acton as their Governor, and I’m willing to fight for her.”
周二，这段视频在社交媒体上广泛传播，引发了俄亥俄州州长竞选的热议。视频中，阿克顿的母亲唐娜·亚瑟（Donna Arthur）称女儿“有严重的问题”，并指责她“在个人经历（尤其是成长过程）上撒谎”。视频最后，唐娜·亚瑟呼吁俄亥俄州的选民不要投票给阿克顿，称“如果你们认为她能改善你们的生活，那你们就是在自欺欺人”。
A video of Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur, roiled the Ohio gubernatorial race on Tuesday when the one-minute spot circulated over social media. In the video, Arthur says that her daughter has “a serious problem” and that she “lies about her past,” including growing up in a tent. The video ends with Arthur urging Ohioans not to vote for Acton, saying “if you think she’ll make your life better, you’re fooling yourself,” though Arthur does not mention Ramaswamy by name.
不过唐娜·亚瑟在视频中并未直接提及维韦克·拉马斯瓦米的名字。阿克顿曾在2019年8月接受《The Vindicator》采访时承认自己与母亲关系破裂。据美联社报道，阿克顿的继父克莱迪斯·亚瑟（Cledith Arthur）在阿克顿青少年时期对她实施过虐待，后来还被指控强奸她；尽管克莱迪斯·亚瑟对指控表示不认罪，但最终仍被大陪审团起诉。
Acton told The Vindicator during an August 2019 interview she was estranged from her mother. Acton's step-father Cledith Arthur abused her when she was an adolescent and was later charged with raping Acton, according to The Associated Press, which obtained court and police documents. Despite pleading not guilty to the crime, Cledith Arthur was later indicted by a grand jury, according to the news outlet.
阿克顿的兄弟菲尔·斯特恩斯（Phil Stearns）在回应该视频的声明中表示，他们的母亲和继父已经失去了对孩子的抚养权，并补充说他们的母亲一直与继父保持婚姻关系直到他去世。
Acton’s brother Phil Stearns said in a statement responding to the video on Tuesday that their mother and stepfather lost custody of the children, adding that their mother remained married to her stepfather until he died.
拉马斯瓦米（Vivek Ramaswamy）的竞选团队表示，他们确实制作了这段广告，但亚瑟（Arthur）并未因此获得任何报酬。最初并不清楚是谁发布了这段视频。尽管民主党和共和党都对这段广告表示强烈反对，拉马斯瓦米的竞选团队仍表示将在下个月的选举前投入400万美元来推广该广告。拉马斯瓦米竞选团队的发言人康妮·拉克（Connie Luck）在相关声明中称：“我们不清楚艾米（Amy）和她母亲之间发生了什么；艾米的母亲最早是在2020年公开谈论她的遭遇的。但我们知道，艾米·阿克顿（Amy Acton）是一个惯于编造谎言的人，她的行为存在严重的问题，公众在决定由谁来担任州长之前有必要了解这些真相。”
Ramaswamy’s campaign said that they had produced the ad, but that Arthur had not been paid for it. It was initially unclear who had released the video. And despite backlash over the ad from both Democrats and Republicans, the Ramaswamy campaign said they would be spending $4 million to promote it ahead of next month’s race. “We don’t know what happened between Amy and her mother, who first spoke out about Amy in 2020, but we know that Amy Acton is a serial fabulist who has some serious problems with the truth that the public needs to be aware of before deciding who to entrust as governor,” Ramaswamy campaign spokesperson Connie Luck said in a statement regarding the ad.
阿克顿的竞选团队严厉批评了这段广告。斯特恩斯（Stearns）表示：“维韦克·拉马斯瓦米竟然堕落到这种卑鄙的地步，试图将艾米在12岁时遭受的性虐待事件变成一个政治话题，这并不令人意外。”他还补充道：“这种卑劣的攻击行为彻底暴露了维韦克·拉马斯瓦米的真面目——他只是一个为了达到目的不惜伤害任何人的可悲之人。”
Acton’s campaign slammed the ad, with Stearns saying “it’s not surprising that Vivek Ramaswamy has stooped to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at twelve years old from our birth mother's husband into a political talking point.”“This desperate, disgusting attack reveals exactly who Vivek Ramaswamy is at his core – a pathetic excuse for a man who is willing to hurt anyone as long as it gets him what he wants,” he added.
阿克顿的竞选团队也制作了回应广告，斯特恩斯在视频中直接对观众表示，这位俄亥俄州的共和党对手“根本不适合领导。”阿克顿的哥哥也讲述了他们继父的虐待行为。针对有报道称拉马斯瓦米的团队将投入数百万美元来推广这段有争议的广告，阿克顿的竞选团队在周三发表的新声明中再次强调了这些事实。阿克顿竞选团队的发言人艾迪·布洛克（Addie Bullock）表示：“维韦克·拉马斯瓦米投入400万美元来推广这段令人厌恶的广告，其中还让阿克顿的施虐者母亲担任主角；对于一个在整个竞选过程中一直与施虐者和性侵犯者站在一起的骗子来说，这种行为既卑鄙又在意料之中。”
Acton’s campaign also came out with an ad in response, in which Stearns says in a direct-to-camera video that the Ohio GOP rival is “not fit to lead." Acton’s brother also recounted their stepfather's abuse. Her campaign doubled down on those points in a new statement on Wednesday in response to reporting that Ramaswamy’s team would be spending millions to promote the controversial ad. “Vivek Ramaswamy investing $4 million to run a repulsive that gives star billing to Dr. Acton’s abusive mother is both despicable and entirely predictable from a scam artist who has spent this campaign standing alongside abusers and sex predators,” Acton campaign spokesperson Addie Bullock said in a statement.
无党派的选举分析机构Cook Political Report将俄亥俄州州长选举的胜负概率评为“难分高下”。
The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report rates the Ohio governor’s race a “toss-up.”