Before Halloween debate, Ashley Kalus denies allegations in Chicago police report as 'false'

PROVIDENCE — Ashley Kalus, the GOP candidate for governor, took to the radio Monday to deny allegations she pushed and kicked a pregnant woman in the shin during an altercation in Chicago in 2019 — and then blamed Democratic Gov. Dan McKee for ruining her sons' Halloween.

Kalus made the comments hours ahead of a live 4 p.m. debate on WPRO-radio, during the first of two face-offs between the warring candidates this week.

Pivoting from the topic du jour — a March 2019 Chicago police report — Kalus told WPRO talk show host Tara Granahan that McKee knew she was a mother and she believed it reflected on McKee's "character" that the only time he was willing to debate her on WPRO was on Halloween.

She said her sons — Leo, 12; Tyler, 10, and Luke, 7 — were "unhappy" when she broke the news to them.

How was the Halloween date chosen for the debate?

In response to Kalus' suggestion that McKee had effectively stolen Halloween from her children, McKee campaign manager Brexton Isaacs said:

"This date and time has been set for nearly 2 weeks, having been agreed to by both campaigns and WPRO. At no point has Ashley Kalus indicated that she took issue with the timing until now, hours before the debate.

"Ashley Kalus is doing anything she can to distract from the fact that everyone is talking about this newly unearthed police report from Chicago alleging she yelled at, shoved, and kicked a pregnant woman."

When asked how the date was chosen for this late-added McKee, Kalus debate, the WPRO debate moderator, Bill Bartholomew, told The Journal: “Of all proposed dates, 10/31 was the only date that worked for all three entities — McKee camp, Kalus camp and WPRO.”

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Ashley Kalus Chicago police report - explained

The backdrop for this Halloween-esque development in the final week of the heated campaign for governor was the leak last week — to more than one media outlet — of a redacted Chicago police report for an alleged March 2, 2019, incident at 22 W Ontario St. — where Kalus and her physician husband had a medical practice.

As first reported by WPRI-TV, an unnamed female with an upper floor unit — rented out as an Airbnb — told police an unnamed assailant "insult[ed} her ... pushed her shoulder, then kicked her shin" during a "verbal altercation" in the entryway to a plastic surgeon's office" when she "popped her head in" to talk about a water leak.

The alleged victim refused medical attention, and ultimately declined to press charges, according to the police report, which says: "This case is SUSPENDED pending further action taken by the victim."

Kalus spokesman Matt Hanrahan told The Journal last week: "The report filed was entirely false and completely fabricated.

"The incident never happened, period," he said. "No charges were filed, and when the individual in question was made aware of the presence of security cameras, she retracted comments about a supposed witness when pressed by police."

“Related, on the same day the report was filed, there was a flood that originated on the fourth floor in the individual’s condo, which leaked down into Jeff and Ashley’s operating rooms and clinic, on the first and second floors. This posed a serious threat to the safety of Ashley’s patients and staff in the building .... Ashley’s staff called 911, and within minutes, police and firefighters were on the scene."

“We understand that politics is a dirty game," Hanrahan said. "But the record shows that this woman made an unsubstantiated claim which warranted no follow-up from Chicago PD.”

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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI gov. race: Kalus says police report's false, McKee ruined Halloween