A new ad from Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign features a GOP activist who blames Amy Acton for isolating her late mother during the COVID-19 pandemic, but records show the woman lived in Kentucky and died weeks after Ohio ended its stay-at-home order.
Ramaswamy and Acton, who served as Ohio Department of Health director in 2020 during the pandemic, are locked in a contentious race to replace Gov. Mike DeWine.
In Ramaswamy's ad, Linda Caudill, a member of the Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee, said her mother went into a nursing home shortly before Acton "shut down the state" and died two months later.
"My mother didn't understand it," Caudill said in the ad. "It traumatized her. She didn't know why her family couldn't come visit her. Two
months later, she died. Amy Acton is to blame for this. It happened to a lot of families, and it shouldn't have happened. I will never forgive Amy Acton for what she did to my family."
The ad doesn't identify the nursing home or specify where Caudill's mother spent her final months. But her obituary, first reported by the liberal website TiffinOhio.net and verified by the statehouse bureau, indicates she was from Erlanger, Kentucky; belonged to a church in Elsmere, Kentucky; and died July 25, 2020, at a hospice facility in Edgewood, Kentucky, six weeks after Acton stepped down as health director.
Additional public records list northern Kentucky addresses for Caudill's mother that date back decades.
The woman's death also came two months after DeWine lifted Ohio's stay-at-home order and travel restrictions, though officials encouraged high-risk people to stay home when possible. The order, when it was in effect, included exceptions for Ohioans who needed to care for elderly loved ones.
Caudill did not respond to multiple messages seeking an interview.
“Families across Ohio were kept from dying loved ones because of Amy Acton's COVID lockdown policies," said Ramaswamy spokesperson Evan Machan. "Those families will never get that time back, and for her to now smear a devoted daughter in an effort to escape her own record is disgraceful."
COVID politics dominate Ohio governor's race
Ramaswamy has repeatedly targeted Acton's tenure as health director, blaming her for the closure of schools and businesses at the onset of the pandemic. DeWine, a Republican who appointed Acton to the job in 2019, said he bears full responsibility for his administration's decisions.
And Ohio wasn't alone.
In Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear stopped in-person visits to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities in March 2020, with exceptions for people receiving end-of-life care. The state allowed visits to resume in July 2020 under strict parameters, provided the facility had gone 28 days without an infection among employees or residents, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
At the federal level, President Donald Trump's administration directed nursing homes to halt visitors "except in certain compassionate cases."
"Vivek Ramaswamy built a career out of scamming people and lying," said Addie Bullock, a spokesperson for Acton's campaign. "His campaign has been no different."
Caudill is no stranger to Republican politics in Ohio. She served as a delegate for Trump in 2016 and 2024. She also sparked controversy as a volunteer for former U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci's 2017 campaign for governor, in part for sharing a meme that suggested violence against then-Secretary of State Jon Husted.
Caudill can be seen in a viral photo of protesters gathered outside the Ohio Statehouse on April 13, 2020, to oppose DeWine's pandemic policies.
State government reporter Jessie Balmert contributed to this report.
State government reporter Haley BeMiller can be reached at hbemiller@usatodayco.com or @haleybemiller on X.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ad blames Acton for isolating dying mom during COVID. There's more to it
