WASHINGTON — Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) fired his campaign’s political director, Stephen Woytek, on Friday after The Washington Post flagged social media activity that included a Facebook profile photo of Nazi SS soldiers, images tied to an SS reenactment group, and a public Spotify playlist celebrating Rhodesia — coverage also summarized Friday by The Hill and Mediaite.

Woytek, 25, joined Husted’s reelection campaign as political director in August. Husted, appointed to the Senate earlier and now seeking a full term, faces former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) in November. The Post reached the campaign for comment; the campaign then cut ties.

What the Post flagged

According to the Post, Woytek in 2018 set his Facebook profile picture to an image of soldiers from the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler division — the unit that began as Adolf Hitler’s personal bodyguard — shown holding captured Soviet banners. The photo remained publicly accessible as of Friday, the paper reported.

His Facebook activity also showed that he followed a historical reenactment organization portraying that same SS division. Photos linked to the group appeared to show Woytek, then 16, dressed in SS reenactment attire during a 2018 event. The Post noted he has also taken part in reenactments portraying Union soldiers in the Civil War and Americans fighting in World War II.

More recently, a Spotify account bearing Woytek’s name and photo hosted a public playlist titled “Tales From Rhodesia,” described as “homesick for a place that no longer exists.” Songs celebrating Rhodesia — the former White-minority-ruled state that is now Zimbabwe, and a symbol often embraced by white supremacists — were added as recently as last month, including at least one track containing a racial slur, the Post reported.

Campaign and Woytek statements

A Husted campaign spokeswoman told reporters that Woytek is an Army lieutenant and Citadel graduate who studies military history and participates in reenactments. She said that while he denies negative intent, the posts showed a “complete lack of judgement” and disregard for their impact on others.

“Sen. Husted demands better of those who represent him. Upon learning about the social media posts today, Sen. Husted made the immediate decision to part ways.”

Woytek, in a statement to the Post, rejected the ideology associated with the imagery the paper highlighted:

“I want to be unequivocal: I reject the racist and antisemitic ideology the SS and Nazi Germany represented.”

He said he participates in historical reenactments because “I believe it is important to educate our younger generations,” acknowledged he should have “exercised better judgment when posting about my activities online,” and added that he was “utterly heartbroken” but was respectfully parting ways with the campaign. He also said he did not want to distract from Husted’s race, per The Hill’s account of his statement.

Staff social-media histories are fair game once someone is a senior campaign hire — and SS iconography plus a Rhodesia playlist are not subtle. Campaigns that move fast to fire after a Post inquiry are doing damage control; readers can weigh Woytek’s education/reenactment defense against the judgment call of leaving that material public while running an Ohio Senate race.

Sources