Oklahoma man running for governor kidnaps and rapes campaign job applicant, police say

An Oklahoma man running for governor is accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman who applied for a campaign job.

Paul Tay, a 58-year-old longshot for governor, was charged with first-degree rape, kidnapping and assault with a dangerous weapon after a woman escaped him at a Walmart in Tulsa, police said.

On Sunday, the woman said she responded to a Craigslist job ad for Tay’s campaign, which offered pay and a place to live, and he picked her up in Bethany, Oklahoma, because she didn’t have a ride to Oklahoma City.

When Tay drove toward Tulsa, not Oklahoma City, the woman tried to leave his vehicle and he hit her with a metal pipe and sexually assaulted her, police said.

Tay ran out of gas on the way home to Tulsa and locked the woman in his car while panhandling for money, police said. After gathering enough money, Tay drove the woman to his home, where he is accused of rape, police said.

On Monday, the woman said she convinced Tay to take her to Walmart for hygiene products and she escaped to get help from a store worker, police said. Tay was arrested in the parking lot.

In June, Tay filed paperwork that indicated his intention to be a candidate for Oklahoma governor in 2022, The Associated Press reported.

Tay is a perennial yet unsuccessful political candidate, most recently losing a 2020 bid for mayor of Tulsa with less than 300 votes.

During the 2016 mayoral campaign, he interrupted a televised mayoral debate he wasn’t invited to participate in by walking onto the set saying, “I deserve my time,” KTUL reported.

Tay, who was convicted last year of outraging public decency, has previously been arrested on accusations he threatened a member of the City Council and solicited prostitution, the news outlet reported.

This story was originally published August 24, 2021 at 2:56 PM with the headline "Oklahoma man running for governor kidnaps and rapes campaign job applicant, police say."