Ramaswamy campaign pulls Ohio ad after husband’s sex-offender record surfaces
A television spot for Vivek Ramaswamy’s Ohio gubernatorial run featured Patricia Edwards, but also showed her husband Vernon, a registered sex offender, prompting the campaign to edit the ad.
Vivek Ramaswamy’s bid for Ohio governor featured a new TV advertisement that centered on Patricia “Patty” Edwards, a resident of Amherst, expressing anxiety over high property taxes threatening her farm. The spot also included several clips of her husband, Vernon Edwards, who had been sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty in 2006 to two counts of gross sexual imposition with a minor. The couple had previously met Ramaswamy at the Lorain County Fair, where the candidate praised Vernon’s patriotic shirt.
When the sex-offender status was revealed through court records, campaign spokesperson Evan Machan said the team had no prior knowledge and was pulling the version with Vernon from rotation. The campaign also removed the related social-media video, and a Republican state representative who had shared it did the same.
Why it matters
The incident raises questions about vetting practices in political campaigns and could affect voter perception of Ramaswamy’s candidacy.
In this story
