ICYMI: Domestic violence, sexual abuse: A number of Senate GOP candidates have to answer for ugly allegations [Washington Post]

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Washington Post: Domestic violence, sexual abuse: A number of Senate GOP candidates have to answer for ugly allegations
By Amber Phillips
October 28, 2021

Key Points:

• One top senatorial Republican candidate in Georgia is accused of threatening his then-wife’s life. Another in Pennsylvania could lose custody of his children during the campaign. One in Ohio is dating a subordinate on his campaign. And in Missouri, a leading candidate is the state’s former GOP governor, who resigned after a hairdresser with whom he had an affair accused him in gruesome detail of sexually assaulting her.

• In a normal year, these candidates would be likely to be shunned by the Republican establishment, but the GOP has been put in the position of either supporting them or girding for their potential nomination, thanks to their ties to and even the support of former president Donald Trump.

• And these races could determine which party controls the Senate next year.

• That an ugly backstory is no longer immediately disqualifying in Republican politics is arguably a sign of how much Trump has reshaped the GOP in his likeness.

• Republicans are frustrated by the proliferation of this kind of candidate.

• “Instead, these races will be about: Why did you hit your wife? Discuss your divorce.” “There’s a level of cronyism and dishonesty that is at an all-time high,” this person added, also speaking on the condition of anonymity to be candid about the GOP.

• Walker’s ex-wife alleges that he threatened her life by pointing a gun at her temple. A former girlfriend also accuses him of threatening her life, an allegation Walker denies. The Associated Press has raised questions about his business practices, specifically whether he exaggerated his financial success.

• The accusations are picking up steam as Walker’s primary opponents, including Georgia’s agricultural commissioner, use them as highly personal attacks.

• A few years ago, [Sean Parnell] was ordered by law enforcement to leave his home and give up his guns. He is in the process of a divorce as he runs for the Senate, and we’ve learned that Parnell’s wife had called 911 in relation to a domestic dispute and filed two protection-from-abuse orders against him that were lifted after a few days.

• Now he’s in a custody battle over his three children — prompting one Republican operative to remark that they’ve never heard of a top Senate candidate losing custody of children midrace.

• The trouble in Parnell’s personal life blew into the open days after Trump endorsed him. Another top Republican candidate, Jeff Bartos, is running ads talking about all this.

• Things could get worse for Parnell. He went to court to seal divorce records and to order his wife not to talk about the prior restraining orders. But a judge recently ruled that much of that information can become public and that his wife can talk about what happened.

• Former state treasurer Josh Mandel is one of the top Republican candidates…Mandel’s campaign has confirmed that he is dating a subordinate on his campaign, its finance director. Relationships between subordinates and bosses have come under more scrutiny in the #MeToo era. Some of the campaign staffers quit this summer, citing a toxic work environment they attribute to Mandel’s girlfriend, reported the Columbus Dispatch.

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