7 nastiest moments of a mean campaign season

Election season is known for fiery policy exchanges and personal attacks, but November’s midterms have been marked by notable moments that have been criticized for going beyond the pale. 

From a controversial campaign ad in Ohio to a candidate telling his opponent to “shut up” on the debate stage, closely contested battleground races have become ripe territory for a wave of vicious attacks on candidates’ characters. 

Here are seven notable attacks from this election cycle.

GOP ad features opponent’s estranged mother

Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy made headlines after his campaign released an advertisement featuring his opponent’s estranged mother. 

In the video, Democratic candidate Amy Acton’s biological mother, Donna Arthur, called her daughter a “liar” and urged Ohioans to vote against her this November. 

Philip Stearns, Acton’s brother, slammed the video as a “despicable low” for Ramaswamy’s campaign. The Democratic nominee previously disclosed in a 2019 interview that she suffered sexual abuse from her stepfather after her parents separated and that her mother stood by her abuser. 

Ramaswamy’s campaign stood by the video amid criticism from Democrats and some Republicans, including Ohio Sen. Jon Husted and South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace.

President Trump, meanwhile, doubled down in his support for Ramaswamy and the add, saying the Republican “should keep it up” while criticizing Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s (R) call to take it down.

Vice President Vance also defended the GOP candidate at a press conference last week. 

“I have to admit that I’m a little bit disgusted when I see Republicans across the country who are whining more about that advertisement than they are about what the congressional Democrats and other Democrats want to do to the United States of America,” he said. 

Ossoff calls GOP opponent a ‘bigot’

Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff has repeatedly called his opponent, GOP Rep. Mike Collins (Ga.), a “bigot” over past social media posts made by the congressman and his staff and family members.

On the debate stage in Atlanta earlier this month, Ossoff claimed Collins “hired half the Third Reich” to his congressional office and accused him of platforming “neo-Nazi content online.”

The Georgia Republican has faced scrutiny over social media posts made by his son-in-law and a former staffer that contained antisemitic messages. 

The GOP senator responded to a moderator’s question about his son-in-law’s posts, saying he “condemned racism, anti-Semitism, hate.”

“I don’t care where the source is, and I tell him that too,”........

© The Hill