Aaron Coleman, a 19-year-old socialist Democrat candidate for the Kansas state House, has admitted to both using revenge porn to blackmail one ex girlfriend and abusing another, Taylor Passow, in what he calls a “toxic” relationship, but stops short of admitting to choking Passow.
Coleman explicitly denies Passow’s accusation that he lunged at her, then choked and slapped her when she joked about “breaking up for a day” so he could pursue his interest in having an orgy.
Coleman, who won the Democrat Party Primary and became the Democrat candidate to represent his community in Topeka in what has been called an “insurgent” campaign likened to that of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) and other “Squad” members, will have his name stricken from the ballot after admitting to the abusive relationship.
“While it is true I was abusive to my ex-girlfriend, I do not agree with the characterization being made about our experience in the hot tub the day after Christmas. I did not choke her,” wrote Coleman in a statement posted to Twitter. “I also don’t think she is intentionally lying, as I know large quantities of alcohol could be affecting both of our memories.”
“The two months I dated Taylor were mutually abusive, and this is not a justification for what I did but the reason why I must lead by example,” the teenage Democrat added.
Passow alleges that Coleman, who previously admitted to using revenge porn to blackmail a separate girlfriend, attempted to persuade her to include a third person in their sex life. When she demurred, saying that she had no interest in the arrangement but suggested the pair could “break up” for a day so he could have sex with two people simultaneously, she claims he lunged at her, choked her, and slapped her repeatedly.
https://twitter.com/Aaron4KS37/status/1302638089408589824
“’He sat there for a few seconds, then he jumped on top of me, put his hands around my throat and started squeezing, and slapped me three times, and said, ‘I don’t know where the f*ck you think you’re going,’” Passow told The Intercept. “Coleman demanded that she apologize for threatening to break up with him, stormed out of the hot tub, and went to the car. She didn’t want to lose him, she said, and texted him an apology.”
Coleman used his “toxic” relationship with Passow to highlight why he believes Americans need “Medicaid for All” and “more early childhood education funding,” saying that government programs would have helped the couple treat “each other better.”
“But words alone are not enough today. We must strive to create a society safe for women, which we currently do not do,” wrote Coleman. “I believe if we had more early childhood education funding, and taught what healthy interpersonal relationships look like, my ex and I would have been less toxic to each other.”
“Additionally, we must pass Medicaid for All so people can receive counseling and mental health support based on need for treatment and not ability to pay. I believe with some counseling, my ex and I would have had more self-respect and would have treated each other better.”
The 19-year-old pledged to end his campaign when these controversies broke in August, then changed his mind, claiming he would not allow the district to fall to the “same corporatist, out-of-touch 7-term incumbent that voters just rejected.”
Coleman has bragged on social media that he is “the only candidate in the race who is a socialist,” and claims “That’s why I’m the Democratic nominee.”
https://twitter.com/Aaron4KS37/status/1301946708990013441
The incumbent, Democrat Rep. Stan Frownfelter, is staging a write-in campaign. He lost the Democrat primary to Coleman by 14 votes.
Republican Kristina Smith is staging her own write in campaign for the district, which has no official Republican candidate on the ballot.
