A 19-year-old Kansas Democrat running for a seat in the state House — who said Sunday he would drop out of the race after admitting to a “revenge porn” incident when he was in middle school and to harassing others on social media — reversed course Tuesday, saying he plans to stay in the race.
Aaron Coleman wrote that since he announced he was dropping out of the race, “I have heard from many of the people who voted for me urging me not to drop out. They said they did not vote for me expecting that I was a perfect person.”
In June, Coleman acknowledged that when he was 14 he made good on a threat to share a nude photo of a girl after attempting to force her to send him more nude photos. He also admitted to harassing other girls online.
KANSAS DEMOCRAT, 19, DROPPING OUT OF STATE HOUSE RACE AFTER LINK TO ‘REVENGE PORN’
In his statement Tuesday, Coleman further said his withdrawal would have returned the district to the “same corporatist, out-of-touch 7-term incumbent that voters just rejected,” referring to Rep. Stan Frownfelter, who Coleman beat in a primary earlier this month by 14 votes.
Democrats in the state have distanced themselves from Coleman and ActBlue, a progressive fundraising nonprofit, dropped him, saying he was “out of alignment” with their mission.
Coleman blamed the deactivation of his ActBlue account on “corporate Democrats” who get to decide who runs for office.
Coleman said his voters told him “all of us have sinned, and we all make mistakes. They said they voted for me because they believe I am committed to doing what politics is about: advocating policies that improve the lives of ordinary people, of working people, of those like me and those like them.”
The candidate is a progressive running on a platform of Medicare for All, marijuana legalization and abortion rights.
He said he decided to stay in the race because he couldn’t stand idly by and let other “young boys be left to the same circumstances as me,” a reference to growing up in poverty. He currently works as a dishwasher.
Coleman also apologized for his past treatment of girls and said society needs to provide “safety” for women. He also seemed to blame his childhood circumstances for his behavior.
“I do believe that we have a moral obligation to provide a life of dignity to our citizens,” he wrote, adding with more self-respect he believes he “would have been a better person to these women.”
“We need to focus on the fact that there is hopelessness amongst our young citizens especially us men,” he added.
One of Coleman’s ex-girlfriends also alleges that while they were dating he once slapped her and attempted to strangle her during an argument, according to the Intercept. Coleman has not commented on the allegation.
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Another girl said he tormented her to the point that she attempted suicide.
During the campaign, Coleman also got negative attention for telling a former Republican lawmaker in the state he would “laugh and giggle when you get COVID and die,” according to Kansas City, Mo.’s KMBC-TV.
Coleman is running in a longtime Democratic district in which there is no Republican challenger — although GOP candidate Kristina Smith plans to run as a write-in candidate, The Wyandotte Daily reported.
Frownfelter also plans to run a write-in campaign — and has drawn support from several prominent Democrats, including Gov. Laura Kelly, the Daily reported.
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