Democratic congressional candidate Mitchell Berman clarified his past use of the online dating and hookup websites Ashley Madison and Adult Friend Finder.
"As a nurse who worked night shifts, Mitchell used online dating websites in his 20s - eventually meeting his wife on eHarmony, for which he is grateful," his campaign said. "These were old accounts from well before his marriage that he had forgotten about, and cancelled."
Berman is running against Republican incumbent Congressman Bryan Steil in Wisconsin's 1st District in the Nov. 3 election.
On Aug. 20 the conservative Washington Free Beacon published a story linking Berman's email to hacks of both websites that revealed users information. The Journal Sentinel previously reported at least one state lawmaker and one candidate for Assembly appeared in the data breaches.
Ashley Madison, originally known for its tagline "Life's short. Have an affair," has been in the spotlight after a major data breach more than 10 years ago revealed several high profile users.
According to the Free Beacon, Berman's account on Ashley Madison made a $268 transaction on Feb. 24, 2015, and a $19 transaction on March 26, 2015. The Free Beacon also reported Berman's email linked to Adult Friend Finder was last active in 2016 before it was deleted.
Berman and his wife, Jillian, were married in January 2015.
In 2015 Ashley Madison was hacked and Wired reported at the time that some users could pay a $250 premium for a money-back "affair guarantee" and it charged a $19 cancelation fee.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, which settled a lawsuit with the companies that run Ashley Madison, 13 million of the 16 million profiles on the site were men.
Berman is facing Steil, who has won every re-election for the seat since 2018. According to Federal Election Commission records, Berman has more than $151,000 of cash on hand compared to Steil who has more than $6 million.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Berman campaign clarifies past use of Ashley Madison website