Aaron Coleman just won a seat in the Kansas legislature — despite admitting to blackmail and revenge porn in middle school.
Coleman, 19, beat seven-term incumbent Stan Frownfelter by just 14 votes on Monday for a seat in the Kansas House of Representatives. His narrow victory was built on a platform of universal healthcare, eliminating college tuition, defunding the police, and legalizing marijuana. But rather than celebrating his win, Democrat leaders are wringing their hands.
Coleman has admitted to disturbing behavior when he was younger. By his own account he harassed girls online, including telling a girl she was fat and should kill herself. He also told then 13-year-old Kati Hampton that he would circulate a nude photograph of her unless she sent him more of the same. When he refused, he did as threatened.
Hampton offered her story to the Kansas City Star, saying, “He got one of my nudes and blackmailed me with it and told me if I didn’t send him more he would [send] it to all of my friends and family,” she told the Kansas City Star. “And when I didn’t send him more, he sent it to everyone I knew. I don’t know how he got the picture. All I know is he’s an awful person and he should not be allowed to run for anything.”
Coleman offered an apology for the behavior, telling the Star editorial board he “made serious mistakes in middle school and I deeply regret and apologize for them.” Coleman said he has “grown up a great deal since then.”
But more recently, Coleman has publicly wished death on political opponents. In an interview, he suggested the death of GOP leadership by the novel coronavirus pandemic would be similar to how “we laugh” when a driver using a cell phone dies in a car accident.
He also admitted to a Facebook post in which he claimed he would “giggle” when former Republican lawmaker John Whitmer died. “John, I’m going to laugh and giggle when you get COVID and die,” Coleman wrote. “At least we can say you died doing what you love. Ask your buddy Herman Cain how it worked out for him.”
“It’s disturbing that a Democratic candidate for office in Kansas has such a disregard for life, and even more disturbing that the Kansas Democratic Party has remained silent on this matter,” Wichita Republican Representative Nick Hoheisel said. “COVID-19 is a serious issue, and wishing it upon anyone is horrendous. Hopefully, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle call it out for what it is.”
They have done just that. “Aaron Coleman is not fit to serve in the Legislature,” said Lauren Fitzgerald, a spokeswoman for Kansas’ Democrat Governor Laura Kelly. His opponent, Frownfelter, cited Coleman’s unexpected victory as an example of why voters must be informed, and show up at the polls.
“It was easy for him to have quick conversations with voters, trying to get their vote, without revealing this dark side of him that we see now so clearly,” Frownfelter said. “This is why I encourage every voter to truly educate themselves on the candidates before casting their ballot and to get out there and vote. Every single vote matters.”