Senator Jon Husted’s campaign has dismissed its political director after discovering that he had used a photograph of Nazi SS soldiers as his Facebook profile picture.
Stephen B. Woytek, 25, was appointed to the role in August as Mr Husted campaigns in a closely contested Ohio Senate race. Amy Natoce, a spokeswoman for the Republican campaign, said Mr Woytek’s social media activity showed a “complete lack” of judgement and a “disregard for its impact on others”.
She said Mr Husted had taken the “immediate decision to part ways” after learning of the posts on Friday.
The photograph, used in 2018, showed SS soldiers holding captured Soviet banners, according to a report by The Washington Post. The newspaper also reported that Mr Woytek had recently added songs celebrating Rhodesia to a public Spotify playlist. Rhodesia was the former white-minority-ruled colony that later became Zimbabwe and has been praised by white-supremacist groups.
Mr Woytek did not respond to requests for comment. In a statement to the newspaper, he said he took part in historical re-enactments and should have “exercised better judgment when posting about my activities online”. He added that he rejected “the racist and antisemitic ideology the SS and Nazi Germany represented”.
Some of his social media accounts and posts appeared to have been made private or deleted by Saturday morning.
Ms Natoce said Mr Woytek, a graduate of the Citadel, “serves our country honorably as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army” and studies military history and routinely re-enacts historical battles. She said he “denies negative intent”. The campaign also said he had participated in Civil War re-enactments as a Union soldier.
Ms Natoce did not answer questions about the campaign’s initial vetting of Mr Woytek or whether his social media history had been examined. “You have our statement,” she said in a text message. “That’s all I will be saying on the matter.”
Mr Husted is facing former Democratic senator Sherrod Brown in a contest to serve the remainder of Vice-President JD Vance’s Senate term, which runs until after 2028. Mr Husted was appointed in early 2025 to replace Mr Vance.
Lauren Chou, a spokeswoman for Mr Brown, criticised the Republican campaign, saying: “They say you are the company you keep.” She added that “Ohioans deserve a leader who reflects their values”.
