St. Xavier Alums Petition Ramaswamy to Pull Ad Featuring Acton's Mother

More than 3,100 alumni of St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati have signed a petition demanding that Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy remove a television ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton. The online document, titled by its organizers as a call for human decency, asks Ramaswamy to issue a public apology and to stop using the family history of Acton as a political weapon.

The advertisement began airing last week as part of a $4 million broadcast and digital campaign. It includes audio from Donna Arthur, Acton's mother, who lost custody of Acton and her brother Philip Stearns in 1978. At the time, Arthur left Ohio with her husband after he was charged with raping Acton, who was 12 years old. Acton has stated she has not spoken to her mother since that period. In the spot, Arthur claims her daughter lies about her past and urges Ohio voters to reject her candidacy.

The ad was leaked on social media early last week, prompting immediate backlash. While President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have defended the creative choice, the reaction from voters and officials across the state has been largely negative. The petition describes the response to the ad as bipartisan anger and widespread condemnation.

Brian Cahill, a 1983 graduate of St. Xavier and one of the petition's organizers, said the group drafted the letter after exchanging texts about the controversy. Cahill emphasized that the school administration is not involved and has not taken a public stance on the advertisement. He noted that the school's motto, 'Men for Others,' taught students that their actions impact the wider community. Cahill said the class of 1983 felt they could not remain silent while a fellow alumnus associated the school's name with what he described as personal cruelty.

"I think a lot of us started to think about that when he ran for president the first time," Cahill said. "The fact that he would endorse this ad and then double down on it when people called out how abhorrent it is really made me question it, and clearly it made a lot of my former classmates question it as well."

The petition specifically requests that Ramaswamy commit to debating policy records rather than personal details. It characterizes the current campaign strategy as a violation of the foundational standard of being a 'Man for Others.' A message seeking comment from the Ramaswamy campaign was not returned as of Wednesday evening.

The next step in the campaign calendar includes scheduled debates in the coming weeks, where the candidates will face questions on policy. The petition remains open for signatures, with organizers monitoring the response from the candidate's team.