Trump-backed Senate candidate Sean Parnell 'tried to choke me out,' estranged wife testifies, claiming he demanded she get an abortion

• Sean Parnell is one of several Republicans vying for Pennsylvania's open Senate seat in 2022.
• He is engaged in a legal battle with his estranged wife over custody of their three children.

At a court hearing on Monday, the estranged wife of Pennsylvania Republican Sean Parnell accused the Senate hopeful of strangling her and demanding that she get an abortion.

The explosive testimony, part of a custody battle over the couple's three children, was reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer. Parnell denies the allegations.

Laurie Parnell, however, insists that her husband was abusive. "He tried to choke me out on a couch and I literally had to bite him," she said. "He was strangling me."

On another occasion, she claimed that he left her on the side of the road after an argument in which he insisted she terminate her pregnancy. She also said that he struck their children.

"It just got worse and worse," she said of the alleged abuse.

Parnell's campaign website identifies him as "pro-life," stating he believes "the abortion debate is a matter of good versus evil, and Americans must stand for what is good."

The campaign did not respond to a question about the alleged abortion incident. In a statement provided to Insider, however, Parnell denied he ever abused his wife or their children and said he awaits his opportunity in court "to refute these hurtful, baseless allegations."

Parnell is one of several Republicans vying for a chance to replace incumbent GOP Sen. Pat Toomey, who has declined to run for reelection in 2022. A rival, developer Jeff Bartos, has been running ads calling him unfit for office, citing his estranged wife's past efforts to obtain protective orders against him.

But Parnell's odds were boosted in September by an endorsement from former President Donald Trump, who cited his record as a military veteran. Like Trump, Parnell has also pushed false claims of election fraud, refusing to concede that he legitimately lost his 2020 congressional race against Rep. Connor Lamb, a Democrat who is seeking his own party's nomination in the looming Senate campaign.

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