Renacci wrote in his FEC filings that his campaign spent some $2,500 on private travel with one Don Ksiezyk, the owner of the Peek-A-Boos and Bug-A-Boos strip clubs in Cleveland, Ohio.
Renacci's campaign representatives have refused to comment to multiple media outlets on a number of topics.
But the candidate, a vocal supporter of US President Donald Trump, has used the plane — which is piloted by the strip club owner — at least three times to attend campaign events in his state, according to a review by the Columbus Dispatch of flight records.
"The Dispatch has sadly hit a new low by publicly shaming a private citizen and Renacci campaign volunteer while giving a pass to Senator Sherrod Brown on his record of domestic violence," campaign spokeswoman Leslie Shedd said in a statement. The two-term incumbent Sherrod Brown, whom Renacci is seeking to oust, was recently accused of domestically abusing his first wife in the 1980s by a self-proclaimed "independent" organization — with ties to the Republican Party — called "#MeTooOhio," the Dispatch reported.
Brown's ex-wife, Larke Recchie, said in a statement, "This isn't the first time someone has gone after my family to score cheap political points," adding, "I've already addressed this matter."
Recent polling from NBC News/Marist College shows that Renacci is trailing Brown by double digits, despite support from GOP heavyweights like Donald Trump Jr., who has fundraised for Renacci.
