Ex-Kansas Rep. Aaron Coleman, known for abusive behavior, on ballot for WyCo school board

Editor’s note: Reality Check is a Star series holding those in power to account and shining a light on their decisions. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email tips@kcstar.com.

A former Kansas lawmaker, who has a history of abusive behavior toward women and was arrested twice while serving his one term in Topeka, is running for a seat on a Wyandotte County school board.

Aaron Coleman, who served in the Kansas House as a Democrat before losing reelection in the 2022 primary, will be among five candidates on the Nov. 7 ballot for a seat on the Turner USD 202 Board of Education.

Four seats are up for election, meaning the top four vote-getters will be elected. Every other candidate, including Wyandotte County Sheriff Daniel Soptic, is an incumbent, according to the Wyandotte County Election Office.

Asked to complete a candidate survey this month for The Star’s voter guide, Coleman responded with what he called his only statement: “The KC star has done me dirty, they are trash. I stand by my legislative record in the Kansas House of Representatives.”

Coleman, who faced calls to resign as a lawmaker, later answered questions by email, saying most of his past behavior that has been condemned occurred when he was a young teenager.

Taking office as a lawmaker at age 20 in 2021, Coleman was accused of a pattern of prior abusive behavior, including allegations that he slapped and choked a former girlfriend when they dated in 2019. An investigative committee found the abuse allegations credible, but legislators took no action because the behavior occurred before Coleman took office.

Asked what he would say to voters concerned about his past, Coleman, now 23, disagreed with the characterization that it was a “pattern” of behavior. He said that behavior has not “been repeated since” he was a teenager.

Coleman also made social media threats against Gov. Laura Kelly and other women. Following the November 2020 election, he wrote that Kelly would face an “extremely bloody” Democratic primary in two years. “People will realize one day when I call a hit out on you it’s real,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. He later deleted the post and said he shouldn’t have used the word “hit.”

As a legislator, Coleman received diversion after he was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery for allegedly kicking and pushing his brother during an argument. He was additionally found guilty of one of two traffic infractions in Douglas County after he allegedly led state troopers on a brief pursuit on Interstate 70 and acted in an “erratic” manner when he was pulled over.

Coleman was also banned from the Kansas Department of Labor offices in Topeka after he berated a security guard.

Some of Coleman’s alarming behavior as a teenager included a 2015 arrest. Then 14, he was charged with a felony for threatening to shoot a student at a Turner School District school. He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of harassment.

In a Facebook post this week, Coleman said he suffered around that time from “anti-social behavior,” including post-traumatic stress disorder. He “did regrettable things,” he wrote, but said that is what would make him “the perfect candidate.”

Coleman has run on a campaign of addressing mental health issues. In one video, he said he would like to see mental health addressed so “we can recognize some of these problems” and “solve bullying.”

“I will continue to champion proper mental health not only on the school level, but on the community level as well,” he said in an email to The Star.

Coleman has also touted his time in Topeka, where he said he drafted policy and analyzed budgets. Coleman, though, was not assigned to any committees, which limited his influence in the statehouse.

Soptic, one of the incumbents who is a Turner graduate, recently wrote on Facebook that voters must do their research before “just selecting a name” at the ballot. He would not normally endorse “lumping” candidates together, he said, but he was making an exception this time.

“Electing anyone other than the 4 current board members back to board of education could have a devastating effect on our students, parents, district and staff,” Soptic wrote.

Like Soptic, another one of the incumbents, Bryan Fishbaugh, who is also a Turner graduate whose sons went to Turner, encouraged residents to vote for the four incumbents.

“There was a fifth application submitted to be on the ballot with only minutes left before the deadline,” he wrote on Facebook.