Campaign scrambles as family values Republican's email caught in Ashley Madison leak

A Republican candidate's email has been caught in an Ashley Madison database breach.

Kentucky state representative Ryan Dotson, who is looking to secure the state's 6th Congressional District seat on a family and faith-branded campaign, is reportedly mentioned in the leak. The data appears from an Ashley Madison breach from 2015, with a review of the information undertaken by Source Say News.

Dotson's campaign team has since suggested that the email mentioned in the Ashley Madison leak could have been established by anyone, and that it was not an indication of the GOP candidate's involvement with the website.

Ashley Madison, a discreet dating service catering to clients seeking extra-martial affairs, confirmed a database breach in July 2015, with the personal information of more than 2,500 members publicized.

The database leak contains information associated with Dotson, including geographical coordinates which line up with the would-be Congressman, as well as data that notes where he has lived and worked. This data, his campaign team claims, does not confirm that Dotson made the account.

A statement from Dotson's campaign team reads, "There is no way to verify the claims that Ryan submitted this email to Ashley Madison. Anybody could have done that." Dotson's wife, Tresa Dotson, also pushed back on this and called the allegations "smears and baseless accusations".

Dotson was voted into the Kentucky House in 2020 and is seeking election for the Republican nomination to the seat being vacated by Representative Andy Barr, who is running for the U.S. Senate.

The GOP rep has faced criticism in the past, making headlines in 2019 after he was dropped from officiating the wedding of Vanderpump Rules stars Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright. Dotson was dropped from the ceremony after social media posts opposing the Supreme Court's same-sex marriage ruling came to light.