Former President Barack Obama rallied with Ohio Democratic candidates Dr. Amy Acton for governor and Sherrod Brown for U.S. Senate in Cleveland on Saturday, drawing several thousand Ohioans to the Cleveland Public Auditorium. The event, held in the final days of the election race, also featured other Ohio Democratic officials and the party’s full down-ballot slate.
Both Acton and Brown are campaigning on a working-class, populist message, aiming to regain support from voters who have leaned Republican in recent elections. They are characterizing their opponents as out of touch and more aligned with wealthy Americans and special interests. Public polling shows both candidates holding a narrow advantage, and they have significantly out-raised their Republican counterparts, though this advantage has been tempered by a flood of Republican Super PAC money, according to the source material.
Former President Obama made a general call for basic decency, dismissing current leadership as “unserious.” He quipped that the individual ought to be on HGTV, referencing White House renovations including a ballroom, paved rose garden, and a helipad. Obama noted the economy is not working for many and acknowledged limits to what a leader can achieve from the White House, but stated that the current administration's actions are directly responsible for rising costs, pointing to the Iran war and tariffs against allies like Canada. He also spoke about leaders leveraging their positions for profit, stating that an economy cannot be “unrigged” when its leaders “think it’s OK to lie and cheat and bully.” Obama emphasized the need to lower costs, put money in people's pockets, and end corruption, but ultimately stressed the importance of fixing the nation’s “moral compass.”
Obama specifically addressed a controversial ad run by Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy against Acton. The ad features Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, claiming Acton is a liar and has lied about her past. The source material clarifies that Acton’s past includes her stepfather, Cledith Arthur, raping Acton when she was a child. Mahoning County officials brought charges in 1978, but Donna Arthur reportedly sided with her husband and fled the state after he was released on bail. While the ad does not mention this history, Donna Arthur claims to have worked on sexual abuse programs to establish credibility and disputes Acton’s claim of living in a tent at one point. The 1978 arrest warrant for Cledith Arthur lists his residence as a campground called Terrace Lake Park without a specific address, according to the source. Obama criticized the ad, stating there should be a decency expected from public officials, and questioned how standards of behavior have become so low that someone would run such an ad. He added that no office is “worth stooping that low.”
On stage, Acton responded to the ad and shared her personal experiences, describing herself as having been a “scrappy kid from Youngstown” who relied on community support. She acknowledged the abuse she and her brother suffered and accused her opponent of attempting to exploit her childhood to “save his struggling campaign,” asserting that “compassion and decency still matter.” Acton attributed these experiences to her drive to become a doctor and spoke of hope, explaining that hope is what got her through sexual abuse and through cold nights while trying to keep her brother safe. She recounted working three jobs through medical school and juggling a young child while on the night shift during residency. Acton promised a “working families tax cut” that pairs a child tax credit with an earned income credit. She also committed to reducing the cost of childcare and utility bills, and to introducing a program to alleviate medical debt, promising to “make it all cost less.”
Ahead of the rally, Ramaswamy campaign spokesperson Connie Luck issued a statement criticizing Acton for campaigning with Obama. Luck referenced the Affordable Care Act, stating that Obamacare was a broken promise from day one due to a crashed website, lost plans, skyrocketing premiums, and the collapse of Ohio’s own Obamacare co-op. Luck asserted that Ohioans cannot afford a liberal governor who supports Obama but not the state's residents. According to a 2020 study in Health Affairs cited in the source material, the ACA reduced the overall U.S. uninsured rate by half, from approximately 16.3% (49.9 million uninsured) before its passage to around 8.8%, with an estimated 21.8 million adults gaining health insurance directly due to the law. The source also notes that the Trump administration and a Republican-controlled Congress allowed ACA subsidies to expire, resulting in nearly 114,000 Ohioans losing health insurance under the ACA.
Former President Obama praised Sherrod Brown’s record of looking out for folks who are doing an honest day’s work. Brown, whose appearance was described as a white dress shirt under a blue quarter-zip sweater, spoke about soaring corporate profits and increased worker productivity, while CEOs earn 300 times more than the average worker. Brown stated that despite working harder, pay does not keep up, and families see more money going out for utilities, healthcare, and groceries. He accused Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted of cozying up to utility executives and big tech, pointing to over $300 million poured into the race to defeat him by Super PACs funded by figures like Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Brown asserted that Husted is “for sale” to billionaires, trillionaires, and shady corporations.
Brown also challenged Husted’s alleged statements that struggling Americans do not know how to budget and that the country’s work ethic is broken. Brown urged Husted to visit public schools in Ohio and speak to teachers who use their own money, custodians working late, or cafeteria workers serving hundreds of children daily, and tell them their work ethic is broken. The source material also states that Brown criticized Husted on the issues of the Epstein files and data centers.
