Aaron Coleman
Democratic candidate Aaron Coleman, 19, is dropping out of the race to become Kansas state representative for the 37th District. This happens after he admitted to engaging in revenge porn.
“After talking it over with my family and my supporters I have made the difficult decision to withdraw my name from the ballot as the Democratic nominee for House District 37,” he wrote in an email obtained by The Wyandotte Daily. “My father was recently hospitalized and in combination with the recent developments in the race it has put a significant strain on my family. Their wellbeing is too important to me to continue as the nominee.”
Coleman scored an upset in the primary, beating out seven term incumbent Stan Frownfelter by 14 votes. He was set to be the only person on the ballot in the November general elections: Republican Kristina Smith was running as a write-in candidate. Frownfelter also refused to let go of his seat, and is also running as a write-in.
But an ugly history emerged before the primary. He admitted to harassing girls online while in middle school. In one incident, he threatened to share a nude picture of a woman if she didn’t give him more of the same. She refused. He went through with the threat.
“I just don’t think he needs to be in a powerful position considering what he’s done to girls,” the woman Kati Hampton, 20, told The New York Times in a Wednesday report. She told the outlet that she did not know him at the time of the incident. She said she believed he found her on Snapchat.
Coleman also sparked controversy during his campaign when he said he would “giggle” if Rep. John Whitmer (R-District 93) died of COVID-19.
[Screengrab via Aaron Coleman]