Want to keep Kansas teen Democrat who admitted to revenge porn out of office? Here’s how

Kansas Democrats are in the astonishing position of opposing their own party’s nominee for a Wyandotte County seat in the state Legislature this November.

Let’s hope they get a lot of help in making this happen.

Monday’s official results from the Aug. 4 Democratic primary election gave a 14-vote win to embattled 19-year-old Aaron Coleman — who has acknowledged bullying, revenge porn and blackmail of girls in middle school some five years ago, as well as recent remarks cheering the thought of Republicans dying of COVID-19.

On Tuesday, the respected Democratic incumbent who lost to Coleman, state Rep. Stan Frownfelter, announced he is mounting a write-in campaign against the teenager in the November general election.

Democratic leaders in the state immediately jumped on Frownfelter’s unconventional bandwagon.

“Yes, we endorse Stan’s candidacy,” House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer, a Democrat from Wichita, told The Star Editorial Board in a statement. “Mr. Coleman does not represent the values of House Democrats.”

In a news release announcing the write-in effort, Sawyer added, “There is a clear and obvious contrast here that demonstrates Rep. Frownfelter as the sole person in this race who is fit for public office.”

“The Kansas Democratic Party is following the lead of the House Democratic Caucus in terms of next steps for House District 37,” Kansas Democratic Party chair Vicki Hiatt told The Star. She conspicuously added, “The pattern of behavior exhibited by Mr. Coleman has shown that it would be inappropriate for him to serve in this office at this time.”

“That’s gross. Not a fan,” state Rep. Stephanie Clayton, a Democrat from Overland Park, said of Coleman’s acknowledged behavior toward girls. “I’m glad that this came out before the November election, at least.”

Frownfelter’s suddenly insurgent campaign is banking on more Democrats — and other voters — agreeing with that sentiment.

“Anybody — independents, unaffiliated, Republicans, Democrats — can all write in Stan’s name,” says his campaign manager, Brandie Armstrong. “Since it’s not on party lines, that really just opens it up for us. Now that it’s national headlines, and people know who Mr. Coleman truly is, I think that really opens up a pathway for us. It’s about who’s fit for office at this point.”

A write-in campaign won’t be easy. While noting that Wichita civil rights lawyer James Thompson used a write-in campaign in the Aug. 4 election to get on the November ballot for a judgeship — something the election commissioner called “quite the feat” — Armstrong fully recognizes the difficulty ahead.

“I’m not going to beat around the bush — write-in campaigns are hard. They’re next to impossible. You rarely ever see them work,” Armstrong said. “We’re going to need everybody.”

That starts with high-profile Democrats such as Sawyer and Hiatt. In this case, it’s not only called for, but something of a moral imperative — particularly in the #MeToo era.

Unaffiliated and independent voters might also want to take note of the official nominee’s actions. One woman who said Coleman bullied her repeatedly in sixth grade reports that the harassment led her to attempt suicide.

Even Republicans should reconsider their own write-in effort in order to support Frownfelter’s. Republicans had no candidate on the Aug. 4 ballot, but now, Wyandotte County GOP treasurer Kristina Smith is waging a write-in campaign for November. No doubt, Coleman’s unfortunate ascension has presented Republicans with a rare opening in Wyandotte County. But Smith’s candidacy is a quixotic one, even with two Democrats running.

Patrick R. Miller, University of Kansas associate professor of political science, notes: “Across all statewide and congressional elections 2016-2018, Democrats won this district by an average of 23 points over Republicans. It’s a solidly blue Obama-Davis-Clinton-Kelly district that even Jerry Moran lost by about 15 points in 2016. So, Democrats do have a healthy cushion here, and it’s conceivable that they could divide their vote and still prevail over any Republican write-in.”

Still, Democrats find themselves in a box. Miller notes, for instance, that even a chastened Coleman couldn’t pry his name off the November ballot at this point absent a severe medical hardship or having moved out of state.

So, as far as the official ballot goes, Democrats are stuck with Aaron Coleman. That means a heightened risk that the fatally flawed candidate could be seated in the Legislature in January — and not even Republicans should want that.

Momentum for Frownfelter’s write-in campaign began as early as the Aug. 4 election night.

“Stan had already started getting calls from everybody,” says Armstrong. “I started getting calls from everybody — from activists, from elected officials, donors, just everybody, wanting to know what we were going to.

“The outrage that we heard from everybody, and just the concern from everyone, really solidified that this is what we need to do. Everybody is just very worried about (Coleman) being seated into office.”

Post-primary publicity about Coleman’s past and a vastly higher turnout in the November presidential election both bode well for Frownfelter’s upstart campaign. So does Armstrong’s plan to at least quadruple the 2,000 doors his campaign knocked on before the primary. And Kansas law doesn’t require write-in names to be spelled correctly or even spelled out: As long as the voter’s intent is clear — such as “Stan F” — the vote will count.

“Now, every single vote really, really matters,” Armstrong says.

If the Aug. 4 primary doesn’t prove that, nothing will.

There is, of course, one other possibility. Though remaining on the ballot, Coleman could always read the tea leaves, denounce his own candidacy and support his opponent.

He’d certainly have a lot of Democratic friends as company.