Aaron Coleman, the 19 year old Democrat who won a Kansas state House primary in August, has issued a statement acknowledging that he was abusive toward an ex girlfriend, while denying he choked her.
“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,” Coleman said in a statement released over the weekend. “I did not choke her.” He added that he does not believe she is intentionally lying and suggested alcohol could have affected both of their memories.
The accusation comes from an Intercept report published last month. In it, Taylor, Coleman’s former girlfriend, told the outlet that in December 2019 an argument in a hot tub turned physical and that Coleman put his hands around her throat. She told VICE News that neither of them had been drinking that morning. According to the Intercept, a longtime friend of hers said Taylor described the incident to her shortly after it happened, and the outlet also reviewed text messages the two exchanged in the days that followed.
Those messages, as reported by the Intercept, included hostile and threatening language from Coleman toward Taylor. Coleman has said the two months they dated were mutually abusive, and called it a reason he must lead by example. He also said society should work to be safe for women.
This is not the first controversy to follow the young candidate. Coleman has previously acknowledged bullying girls in middle school. The New York Times reported that a girl said he pressured her for more photos when they were both young teens and shared an image of her after she refused, and the Kansas City Star spoke with another girl who said his treatment of her in middle school contributed to a very dark period in her life.
Coleman has said he has grown since then. He remained the Democratic nominee for the Kansas House seat at the time of this report.
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