Aaron Coleman

Aaron Coleman (born September 20, 2000) is an American politician from the state of Kansas. A Democrat, he represented District 37 in the Kansas House of Representatives from 2021 to 2023. The district covers the Turner neighborhood and parts of the Argentine and Armourdale neighborhoods of Kansas City in Wyandotte County, Kansas. Coleman was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives at the age of 20. Coleman previously ran a write-in campaign for governor of Kansas in 2018 and ran for the Kansas City Board of Utilities in 2019.

Coleman's tenure in office was marred by various allegations. He has been accused of engaging in abusive and harassing behavior on a series of occasions and has admitted to and apologized for childhood acts of online bullying, blackmail, and revenge porn. As a juvenile, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment after threatening to shoot another teen. Following Coleman's 2020 election to the Kansas House of Representatives, many members of his own party called for his resignation due to his acts of misconduct; some called for his removal. In February 2021, the Select Investigating Committee of the Kansas House of Representatives sent Coleman a letter of warning and admonition in regard to past conduct unbecoming of a state legislator. In October 2021, Coleman was arrested on a domestic violence charge; the following month, he was arrested for suspected DUI. Following his 2021 arrests, Gov. Laura Kelly called for his resignation. In February 2022, Coleman was suspended from the state Democratic Party for two years. Also in 2022, Coleman entered into a diversion agreement under which he avoided prosecution for domestic battery; he was not criminally charged in connection with the November 2021 arrest due to a lack of evidence of intoxication.

Coleman sought re-election in 2022, but was defeated in a landslide by Melissa Oropeza in the Democratic primary.

Early life Coleman comes from Kansas City, Kansas. As of 2020, Coleman attended Johnson County Community College.

Political career In 2017, as a seventeen-year-old who had dropped out of high school, Coleman entered the race for governor of Kansas as a write-in independent candidate ahead of the 2018 election. Democrat Laura Kelly won the election.

In 2019, Coleman ran for the board of public utilities in Kansas City.

Kansas House of Representatives Elections In 2020, Coleman defeated seven-term incumbent Stan Frownfelter in a Democratic primary in Kansas House of Representatives District 37. The victory was considered an upset. Coleman, then 19 years of age, won by just 14 votes.

After Coleman admitted to online bullying, blackmail and revenge porn, Frownfelter announced he would run a write-in campaign against Coleman. Coleman initially dropped out of the race, but later reversed his decision. Democratic House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer, supported Frownfelter's write-in campaign, as did Democratic Governor Laura Kelly. The Kansas Young Democrats endorsed Frownfelter and condemned Coleman.

In August 2020, Coleman told former Republican state lawmaker John Whitmer that he would "laugh and giggle when you get COVID and die". Coleman claimed Whitmer was repeating anti-mask “conspiracy theories”.

Coleman won the general election to the Kansas House of Representatives on November 3, 2020 at the age of 20, Coleman said that his tweet was not a call for physical violence against the governor, but an expression of his belief that Kelly's moderate political positions did not appeal to him or the party's left wing; he self-identifies as a democratic socialist. In response, Sawyer and state Democratic chair Vicki Hiatt stated that Democrats in the House would file a complaint against Coleman when he was sworn in and work for the two-thirds vote required to remove him from office.

Coleman ran for re-election to the Kansas House of Representatives in 2022.

Tenure On December 31, 2020, Democratic House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer denied Coleman committee assignments in the incoming legislature.

On January 13, 2021, two days after being sworn in to the Kansas House of Representatives, Coleman announced he had left the Democratic Party and would sit as an independent. On February 8, he re-joined the Democrats.

In February 2021, following a hearing, the Select Investigating Committee of the Kansas House of Representatives dismissed a complaint against Coleman regarding acts of misconduct he committed before taking office. The Committee later sent Coleman a letter of warning and admonition in regard to past conduct unbecoming of a state legislator. Following Coleman's October 2021 arrest on domestic violence charges, Sawyer called Coleman's more recent arrest "extremely disturbing news" and said Coleman should "resign and get the help he badly needs." After Coleman was arrested again in November 2021, for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol, Sawyer again requested Coleman's resignation. Gov. Kelly called for the legislature to expel Coleman if he did not voluntarily leave office.

Other campaigns In November 2023, Coleman was defeated in his bid for a seat on the Turner USD 202 Board of Education in Wyandotte County.

Legal troubles and allegations of wrongdoing Coleman has been accused of engaging in abusive, harassing and/or unlawful behavior on a series of occasions.

Juvenile misconduct After his 2020 Kansas House primary victory, Coleman's past history generated significant controversy, leading to him admitting that he had leaked revenge porn in middle school when he was 12. He has also admitted to bullying, extortion, and threats of physical violence at his middle school.

In 2021, Democratic House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer accused Coleman of having threatened Sawyer's former chief of staff, Heather Scanlon. and had accosted a police officer in "a loud and demanding tone". Coleman disputed this account.

Violence Coleman's ex-girlfriend, Taylor Passow, has alleged that Coleman choked and slapped her in late 2019, and that he had sent her abusive and threatening text messages. Coleman disputed aspects of Passow's account.

On October 30, 2021, Coleman was arrested by Overland Park police on a domestic violence charge. Coleman was alleged to have hit, pushed, and spat upon his brother and to have threatened to "kick" his grandfather's "ass". The domestic dispute allegedly arose from Coleman's objection to his brother's desire to be baptized. Coleman pleaded not guilty and was released on bail. In March 2022, Coleman entered into a diversion agreement in which he "agreed to complete a domestic violence assessment, spend a year in counseling and take random alcohol and drug tests in lieu of facing prosecution for the battery charge".

2021 driving infraction On November 28, 2021, Coleman was arrested in Douglas County, Kansas on suspicion of (DUI). He had been cited for doing 91 mph on an Interstate, and for failing to follow the instructions of the police officer who made the traffic stop. In January 2022, it was announced that no criminal charge would be filed due to lack of evidence of intoxication. Coleman was instead charged with traffic violations for speeding and for failing to yield to emergency vehicles.

Electoral history