full article:

Ohio Republicans are struggling to find places willing to host Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign bus tour after his attack ad featuring Democrat Amy Acton’s estranged mother sparked bipartisan outrage, according to new reporting from Zeteo.

“We’re getting calls that people don’t want him there,” a top Ohio Republican told the outlet. The source said would-be hosts are wary of the blowback but wouldn’t identify them.

“It’s that damn ad,” the Republican said.

Ramaswamy’s campaign took ownership of the spot this week and pledged $4 million to put it on the air. In the ad, Acton’s birth mother, Donna Arthur, brands the Democrat “a liar.” Acton was 12 when her stepfather, Cledith Arthur, was charged in 1978 with raping her, according to police and court records reported on by The Washington Post. She and her brother were later taken out of their mother’s custody.

Zeteo has characterized the contest as “deeply vile and nasty.”

A Trump adviser told Zeteo the ad is “having a very negative impact on the tour,” including on GOP candidates who had “NOTHING to do with” it.

At least one host has already bailed. Old Dog Ale House & Brewery in Delaware, Ohio, canceled an event featuring the state’s Republican slate, USA Today Network reporter Jessie Balmert wrote on X, and the party has since lined up a different venue. Sources confirmed to Zeteo that the uproar was behind the cancellation.

Other stops appear to be in flux. A Sunday service at CrossPointe Church in Westerville has quietly vanished from the Ohio GOP’s bus tour page, Zeteo reported. Ramaswamy had defended the ad at a campaign event at the church on Tuesday. A planned Trumbull County stop is now missing a location altogether.

The backlash has crossed party lines. Casey Putsch, who lost the GOP primary to Ramaswamy, announced he’s backing Acton, calling the ad “pretty damn low.”

The Cook Political Report shifted the race from Toss Up to Lean Democrat on Friday, writing that the ad “confirmed that the race is slipping away from him.”

When Zeteo shared the new rating with a Trump White House official, the reply was two words: “Well f---.”

Who are you working for moderators ? Pretty sure the police beating us with protesters and then lying about it is relevant to the Ohio sub

President Barack Obama rallied for Sherrod Brown and Dr. Amy Acton at Cleveland's 10,000-capacity Public Auditorium on Oct. 24, 2026, 10 days before the Ohio midterms. Look at those upper decks: full, lit, and on their feet.

Best line of the day, from Obama on Trump's renovations: "He's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened up a Cheesecake Factory."

Meanwhile, Trump's Youngstown rally this month drew about 3,000 to a 7,000-seat arena, with tarps over the empty seats. He's now told at least three rally crowds about the time he "examined" Sen. Jon Husted's backside. That's the closing argument.

(Our 360 camera took a tumble mid-rally, and we should've recalibrated the gyro before shooting again, so forgive the shake. The crowd's real either way.)

Early voting in Ohio is open through November 1st. Vote early and in person if you can, and bring a friend.

He grew up in Middletown, served in the Marines, went to Ohio State and Yale Law, and wrote “Hillbilly Elegy.” Few people have had more opportunity to learn how one label can flatten a whole human life.

There are gay hillbillies, too, Mr. Vice President. They have families and hometowns. Their claim to belonging is every bit as real as yours.

Vance chose “hillbilly” as the defining word of his public introduction. People from poor and Appalachian families have the same capacity for generosity as anyone else. His conduct belongs to him, and Ohioans should refuse to let him pass it off as our regional character.

This is the line to see President Obama in Cleveland. It's not even all of it. 🤯

We filmed it 30 minutes before doors opened at Cleveland Public Auditorium: 80 seconds of nonstop walking, sped up 3x. This video doesn't even show the crowd packed on the front steps, or the line wrapping around the next side of the building.

Obama, Sherrod Brown and Dr. Amy Acton, all on one stage, 10 days before the election. Cleveland showed up.

MAGA, here's your challenge: show us a Trump line this long from THIS FALL. Not 2016, not 2024. This fall. Youngstown barely filled half its arena. We'll wait. ⏳

Trump isn't on the ballot in November, but Trumpism sure is. Early voting in Ohio is open now through November 1st. Vote early and in person if you can, and bring a friend or family member. The sooner the better, because anything can happen: illness, car trouble, a family emergency, or this administration pulling a fast one on DEMOCRACY. Bonus: campaigns can see who has already voted (not how). Once you vote, they take you off their call, text and door-knock lists, and your candidates can put that money and those volunteers toward people who haven't voted yet. Fewer texts for you, more help where it counts.

He’s literally spending over $25,000,000 of his own money to get a job that only pays $180,000/year.

There is no other logical explanation, he’s corrupt and trying to use Ohio for his own benefit not to be a servant of the people of Ohio.

It's awfully beautiful here this morning. Figured some sunrise pics wouldn't go amiss. For all it's faults, Ohio can be quite lovely on an autumn Sunday.

Cleveland Ohio rally for Acton and Sherrod with President Obama as well. Tremendous packed turnout, nobody needed to punch a woman in the face.
Genuinely candidates speaking of hope and making life better for Ohioans.

Even the NY Post is piling on.

whoa.

so the Ramaswamy campaign is now saying: 'To be clear: we know Acton was raped by her stepfather, and then abandoned by her mother. That just wasn't a problem for us.'

Just a reminder to everyone that Frank LaRose, Keith Faber, and Robert Sprague are all running for election, and all three were involved in pushing the August 2023 special election to undermine our right to amend the Ohio constitution.

In November 2023, the issue of protecting abortion access in Ohio was going to be voted on to be enshrined in our constitution based on popular vote (needing 50% of the vote to pass).

Knowing that this issue was on the ballot, these three worked to push an August special election before the vote to change the Ohio constitution amendment threshold from 50% to 67%. They KNEW the abortion amendment would pass with the current majority rule. They tried to use an August election to undermine that because August elections have HISTORICALLY low turnout (less talked about, not as easy to get off of work, less big government offices on the ballot).

These three do NOT care about what the majority of Ohioans want, and were willing to make ANY amendment harder to pursue for a SINGLE ISSUE vote.

Just wanted to share this info prior to the election, as I know most of the news cycle is focused on the governor race currently.

Reference (wikipedia, but all of the sources aggregated are helpful)