Two candidates are waging a war of words as opponents of Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown try to insert his decades-old divorce into his race against Republican Rep. Jim Renacci.

Mr. Brown was called out last week over his divorce by the website metooohio.com. The group appears to be associated with a “dark money” political-action committee.

The attacks are an attempt to link the race’s two-term incumbent to the Me Too movement, which has taken down powerful men in media, entertainment, and politics accused of sexual harassment and assault.

Resurfacing in the Me Too Ohio website, the allegations against Mr. Brown have come up in several races since his 1986 divorce from ex-wife Larke Recchie, who said in court documents from the time that her ex-husband shoved, intimidated, and bullied her.

The two have since reconciled and Ms. Recchie, who hosted a fund-raiser this month for her ex-husband with their current spouses and grandchildren, last week issued a statement condemning the use of their divorce as a political smear tactic.

“This isn’t the first time someone has gone after my family to score cheap political points. I’m dismayed that Congressman Renacci would do something this shameless, despite the fact that I’ve already addressed this matter,” she said in a statement provided by the Brown campaign.

“I was proud to support Sherrod in 2006 and 2012 — just as I am this time around. Anyone who suggests he is not an honorable man is just wrong. He’s a great father to our daughters Emily and Liz and he’s a wonderful grandfather to our grandchildren. Disparaging my family for political gain is disgusting, and Congressman Renacci should know better.”

Mr. Brown told Cleveland.com at a press conference Thursday promoting his prescription-drug bill that no one has brought his divorce into previous races the way the Wadsworth congressman has.

Asked what it says about the race, Mr. Brown said, “I think it says that one of the candidates thinks it’s OK to attack someone’s family, when all the family members say this is not an issue, and shouldn’t be part of a campaign,” Cleveland.com reported.

On the campaign trail, Mr. Renacci has doubled down on his attacks against his opponent, saying Mr. Brown should resign over the allegations, which Mr. Brown has denied.

“Sherrod Brown’s substantiated history of domestic violence clearly violates the standard of conduct that I, along with leaders in Brown’s own party, have said disqualifies someone from serving in elected office and for those reasons it’s clear he should resign,” Mr. Renacci said in a statement to the Columbus Dispatch.

In a statement to The Blade Friday night he said: “Ultimately this is about all victims of domestic violence. There is now a widely accepted standard of conduct that we hold public officials accountable when there is extensive and substantiated evidence that they have engaged in physical or sexual abuse.”

A recent poll shows Mr. Brown leading Mr. Renacci 49 percent to 32 percent, with 19 percent still undecided.

Contact Liz Skalka at lskalka@theblade.com, 419-724-6199, or on Twitter @lizskalka.

First Published September 22, 2018, 4:00 a.m.