Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign removes a registered sex offender from an Ohio gubernatorial race advertisement after details of the man’s criminal background surfaced and drew criticism. Multiple outlets report that the person appeared in the ad’s background footage, not as a speaking participant, and that the campaign subsequently pulled him from the commercial.
The reporting traces the issue to earlier social media activity, including a video interaction in which Ramaswamy appeared with the man. The outlets describe the man as Vernon Edwards, who pleaded guilty in 2006 in Ohio to “gross sexual imposition,” and was sentenced to prison. The campaign says it had no prior knowledge of the person’s criminal history when the footage was used, and it states the man has been removed from the current version of the ad.
Other coverage includes statements from Edwards’s wife, who disputes aspects of the case and argues her husband completed his sentence and has since lived lawfully. The controversy unfolds as Ramaswamy faces Democratic nominee Amy Acton in a competitive gubernatorial race.
