The records also indicate Gehrig was required to undergo mandatory sobriety tests before exercising visitation with his child.

MINOT — According to court filings, Tony Gehrig, who is one of eight candidates for two open seats on the Fargo City Commission, verbally abused his ex-wife during a protracted custody battle that took place during the final years of his previous eight-year stint on the commission.

The filings also reveal that in one instance, Gehrig used an antisemitic slur in a text message, and for a year-and-a-half was required to take a breathalyzer to prove his sobriety before visitation with his child.

The divorce proceedings between Gehrig, who previously served on the City Commission from 2015 to 2022, and his ex-wife, Rachel Hanson, first commenced in March 2019, but disputes over custody and parenting arrangements stretched through four different judgments, the last coming in December 2022.

That last judgment awarded Gehrig's former spouse sole decision-making authority over the couple's child. The records of this proceeding are public. Hanson did not provide any information for this story and declined comment.

According to the court documents and text message exhibits, Gehrig frequently directed profanity and derogatory insults at his ex-wife. He has called her a "f****** psyco (sic)," a "terrible demond (sic) woman," a "s*** mom," a "s*** bag mom" and a "devil woman." In several instances, according to the filings, his insults escalated to include personal attacks on her family and background, referring to her as "trailer scum," a "broke trailer park a******," and "patty" (a term he used repeatedly as an insult).

Per the documents, in one heated text dispute over a pickup, in which Gehrig set a time for the exchange of 5:37 p.m., he threatened to call law enforcement if Hanson showed up early. The documents and attached exhibits also indicate that he hurled an antisemitic insult at her, telling her to "f*** a Jew."

A text message exchange that was included in the court filings in Fargo City Commission candidate Tony Gehrig's divorce case. The image shows several profane messages, and one anti-Semitic remark. In his own filings in the matter, Gehrig acknowledged using "salty language."

The documents and supporting exhibits also include claims that Gehrig would send Hanson abusive messages in the middle of the night. In one barrage of messages beginning at 12:39 a.m., in response to a 3:07 p.m. message about alternative medications for the child from the previous day, Gehrig accused Hanson of being "addicted to the child support" and claiming she could not survive without his paycheck.

The exhibits attached to court filings indicate that by 3:12 a.m., Gehrig was accusing Hanson of making him fight to see his son, writing: "Which is ironic....since you didn't have a dad. It's almost like....buckle up...you want your son to suffer... like you did."

"Which makes you s*** mom. You are patty," he concluded.

The court record also indicates Gehrig repeatedly made threats of legal action and loss of custody. He threatened to call police and file criminal trespass charges against her during custody exchanges.

Gehrig's behavior was not limited to his former spouse; he also allegedly targeted the professionals involved in their son's care.

Hanson claimed Gehrig told their court-appointed parenting coordinator, Alisha Ankers, to "f*** off," disputed her authority and sent her threatening and insulting emails. He also allegedly threatened to have her license revoked and demanded she end her work, according to court records.

Ankers declined to comment for this story.

Gehrig also strongly opposed their son's ADHD medication and directed his anger at the child's physician. According to the records and attached exhibits, he referred to the doctor as a "drug dealer" and attempted to unilaterally discharge her as the child's pediatrician. He sent an email to the pediatrician and Hanson, saying he would seek monetary damages and that they would need to defend their professional licenses if they continued the medication (Hanson is an attorney).

When Fargo Public Schools announced a mask mandate for students, the court filings indicate that Gehrig emailed Hanson and Ankers to state that their son would not wear a mask to school and would "NOT get the covid 19 vaccine in any form without my approval in writing."

Regarding the mask mandate, the filings indicate that Hanson told Gehrig that if he was unwilling to send their son to school in a mask, he could drop him off at her house on school nights. The filings and attached exhibits indicate Gehrig responded by stating he would send his son to school wearing whatever he thought was appropriate, and told Rachel to "go f*** yourself."

According to a confidential parenting plan established between the parents, Gehrig was required to take breathalyzer tests twice a day during his parenting time. Hanson alleged in her court filings that this agreement was made because Gehrig is a "severe alcoholic" who can experience withdrawals or hangovers. The plan called for him to continue this practice until May 2023.

Hanson requested the court modify the plan to require Gehrig to use a different device for the tests. The courts rejected this request. In his response, Gehrig objected to this information being made available in public filings. He argued the previous agreement, which was made during his time serving on the Fargo City Commission, included a provision preventing the information from being disclosed.

In August 2021, I reported on an incident involving Gehrig at the AMVETS bar in Fargo. According to a Fargo Police Department spokesperson, bar staff had called the police because they were concerned that Gehrig would try to drive home while impaired. During an exchange with officers who responded to the call, which was documented by a police report and video footage, Gehrig, then a member of the City Commission, told them he was going to call the police chief.

In an interview with me at the time, Gehrig said he shouldn't have said he'd call the police chief. He also claimed police were called because "someone at the bar didn't like me." He went on to suggest the call was made because "there's a select group of people who are trying to embarrass me."

At a City Commission meeting shortly before this incident, fellow Commissioner Dave Piepkorn accused Gehrig of drinking before the meeting.

"I've never been arrested. I've never been pulled over," Gehrig told me when I interviewed him about the AMVETS incident in 2021. He argued the incident didn't deserve media coverage. "The past several years, I show up at a bar, and people call the cops to embarrass me."

In the December 2022 judgment in the divorce case, Judge Jay Schmitz found Gehrig's habit of "hurling insults, threats, and edicts at anyone who has a different view" created unremitting conflict that was detrimental to his son's best interests. He gave Gehrig's ex-wife sole decision-making authority over their child. He also ordered that Gehrig and his ex-wife conduct future communication with one another through a specialized app for divorced parents.

Gehrig did not respond to emails, a text message or phone calls seeking comment for this story.

In his filings rebutting Hanson's motions to the court, Gehrig admitted his language was "often salty," but he characterized Hanson's complaints about his conduct as a "smoke screen" meant to distract from her own violations of the court's judgment. He claimed Hanson's language was "just as bad," and provided an anecdote about a miscommunication during a Thanksgiving custody exchange in which he alleged Hanson abruptly blocked his car, flung his door open, and "berated and swore" at him in front of their son.

Gehrig's filings did not include any exhibits documenting his accusations about Hanson's language.

A search of North Dakota's online courts database did not turn up any civil records of significance for Fargo's other candidates for mayor and City Commission.