OPEN LETTER TO GOVERNOR MIKE DEWINE By Jack Windsor Governor Mike DeWine (R-OH) called the Statehouse press corps to the Capitol Rotunda Thursday morning to tell Vivek Ramaswamy to take down his ad featuring Donna Arthur, the mother of Dr. Amy Acton. DeWine, per The Columbus Dispatch: “It was just wrong to run this ad.” And: “The ad on its face is deeply, deeply troubling but when you know the rest of the story, when you know the backstory, when you know that the husband of the mom was indicted by a grand jury after hearing testimony and that he took off along with the mother and that two children never saw the mother after that.” The Dispatch reports he said that after talking about his history as a county prosecutor defending child rape victims. He did not pull his endorsement of Ramaswamy. Governor, child victims deserve a protector who shows up every time. Not just when the victim served in your Cabinet. Dr. Acton is the Democrat nominee for governor and your former Ohio Department of Health director. She is a candidate. She has told her childhood story in public — she used it in the 2019 profile. Now, does that justify using her mom in a commercial? That’s a different discussion for a different day. But today, we need to talk about a legal standard, since you brought up your previous work as a prosecutor — equal justice under the law. In essence: we’re to have one standard, not two or many. The Acton campaign used sexual abuse as an attack on Vivek Ramaswamy. His campaign ran a property tax ad built around a woman named Patty Edwards, filmed at the Lorain County Fair. Her husband, Vernon Edwards, appeared in background footage. On Oct. 14, The Bulwark reported Vernon Edwards pleaded guilty in 2006 to gross sexual imposition involving a minor. The Ramaswamy campaign said it had no knowledge of his record and cut him from the ad. Then the Acton campaign went to work. Spokeswoman Addie Bullock: “Vivek Ramaswamy deliberately choosing to amplify a convicted pedophile is not only disgusting, it’s completely disqualifying.” On Oct. 16, the campaign published a release titled “Vivek Ramaswamy Airs Ad Featuring Convicted Child Sex Offender.” It quoted news reports that the victims were his nieces, under 13. Acton repeated the “convicted pedophile” line in interviews this week. Vernon Edwards is a private citizen. His case is 20 years old. His victims are children in his own family. The Acton campaign put that case, those victims and that family back in the headlines to smear Vivek Ramaswamy. Aren’t those also the victims you prosecuted for? Where was your call to take that down? Governor, here are my questions: Did you publicly object to the Acton campaign’s use of Vernon Edwards’ case and the children in his family? When and where? If not, tell Ohio why the line you drew Thursday morning covers a candidate and not the private citizens and children who never asked to have their abuse spotlighted in this race. _ _ _ Jack Windsor is founder and editor-in-chief of The Ohio Press Network and host of The Windsor Report on 98.9 FM The Answer.