Kasich Fires Campaign Staffer Over Domestic Violence Report

A top staffer for Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s presidential campaign was fired Saturday after the Cincinnati Enquirer surfaced his arrest on domestic violence charges.

According to the Enquirer, Washington D.C. police arrested Blake Waggoner, the Kasich campaign’s deputy digital director, after responding Nov. 12, 2015 to a report of a woman “screaming repeatedly ‘get off me.'”

The woman, who was not identified, told police that he choked her and punched her in the back.

Waggoner, who was also the campaign’s rapid response director, was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence, which carries a penalty of up to 180 days in jail and a fine of $1,000. Records show he pleaded not guilty but was later enrolled in a diversion program.

The Kasich campaign found out about the charge Saturday afternoon from an Enquirer reporter calling for comment and fired him “within a couple of hours,” according to the paper.

“Obviously, this kind of behavior is abhorrent and completely unacceptable,” campaign manager Beth Hansen said in a statement. “We were unaware of the incident concerning Blake, and he is no longer an employee of the campaign.”