A Wayne County judge has responded to a three-page, handwritten petition from a Poconos woman by granting a temporary protection-from-abuse order against her husband.

This isn’t unusual. The petition complains of verbal, physical and mental abuse, including stalking the wife at work, preventing her from seeing her family — even at a funeral — threatening to kill their dog and saying she would be kicked out of the house with their son if the husband loses the May primary election.

That is where things get a little less common. The husband is Teddy Daniels, one of nine Republican candidates for lieutenant governor.

It is important to note that Daniels has denied his wife’s allegations and called the reports, first made by Rolling Stone magazine, politically motivated.

But the issue of domestic abuse on its own and as it relates to politics and public service is important and should not be dismissed. The U.S. Department of Justice has noted the problems with domestic violence among police officers. It happens in the military, too, with thousands of cases of spousal abuse reported annually and 84% involving physical assault, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

It is enough of an issue that state Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre, introduced a bill this month that would prevent people from holding public office if they are convicted of domestic violence crimes.

Conklin, who ran for lieutenant governor in 2010 with gubernatorial candidate and former Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, cited the 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men who experience intimate partner violence in introducing the legislation.

“You wouldn’t trust someone convicted of embezzlement with the public purse, so why should we allow individuals convicted of domestic violence to make decisions about public policy related to domestic violence?” he said.

It’s a question worth asking, as is how we moderate the divide between accusations and convictions. Although Daniels’ case comes after the legislation was introduced, he isn’t the first public official tarred with such allegations. In November 2021, Republican Sean Parnell suspended his campaign for U.S. Senate after a custody battle with his estranged wife brought abuse allegations to light.

Domestic cases are complicated. A victim is often more concerned with getting out of the situation than pushing for prosecution. That means the convictions that would keep someone out of office might not be there. At the same time, no one should be kept from public service by untested accusations.

What if we held public officials to the same standards we hold school or day care employees who have to undergo not only criminal background checks but child abuse checks as well? Why do we hold someone who makes $12 an hour in a school cafeteria to a higher moral standard than the people who make or institute policies?

There is no reason we shouldn’t, and it is past time that we did.

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