MIAMI BEACH, Florida — Daniel Jeremiah Kalmbach, a former Republican candidate for the Ohio House of Representatives who is awaiting trial on a life felony kidnapping charge, was arrested again this month on domestic violence charges, according to Miami-Dade County court records.
Miami Beach police arrested Kalmbach, 31, at 10:33 p.m. Tuesday, July 14, at the W South Beach hotel on Collins Avenue. He faces two first-degree misdemeanors: battery involving domestic violence and violation of a domestic violence injunction.
The arrest came five days after a judge, on a motion granted by agreement of both sides, postponed his kidnapping trial. That trial had been scheduled to begin Monday, July 20. It is now set for Monday, Sept. 14.
Kalmbach was booked into the Miami-Dade County jail at 3:35 a.m. Wednesday, July 15, and released after posting bond the following day, according to Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation records. Bond was set at $7,500 on each of the two counts, for a total of $15,000, and he was placed on GPS Level 1 electronic monitoring under a pretrial release order. A judge issued a stay-away order barring contact with the alleged victim. Attorney Howard Srebnick, who also represents Kalmbach in the felony case, filed a notice of appearance and a written plea of not guilty on Friday, July 17. Arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 16, before County Judge Alicia Garcia Priovolos.
The following section describes allegations of domestic violence.
What the arrest affidavit alleges
Kalmbach denied that anything happened. According to the sworn complaint/arrest affidavit, he told the responding officer that he and his girlfriend had been sleeping and that no argument or physical contact had occurred. The officer wrote that he observed no visible injuries on Kalmbach.
The alleged victim, contacted separately inside the hotel room, also told officers that no threats or harm had been made, according to the affidavit. She declined treatment from fire rescue and declined to have crime scene photographs taken.
The officer nonetheless identified Kalmbach as the primary aggressor. The affidavit states that officers were dispatched to the hotel after the alleged victim’s sister called the front desk to report that her sister was involved in a domestic dispute. Inside the room, the officer wrote, he observed redness on the left side of the alleged victim’s face and on her left forearm that appeared recent, a broken cup on top of a dresser, and items scattered across the floor and into the bathroom. Two hotel employees reported hearing the alleged victim screaming and crying, according to the affidavit.
A records check revealed that Kalmbach was subject to a non-expiring protective order obtained by the alleged victim, the affidavit states, and the officer noted the injunction case number. A Florida Department of Law Enforcement lethality assessment was completed. Seven officers were equipped with body-worn cameras at the scene.
Kalmbach was transported to the Miami Beach Police Department holding facility. The affidavit describes the two as having been in a ten-month live-in relationship.
The affidavit was sworn by Officer M. Gutierrez on Wednesday, July 15. TiffinOhio.net is not naming the alleged victim.
The felony case remains pending
Kalmbach was first arrested in Miami on Feb. 23 on two third-degree felonies. In April, Miami-Dade prosecutors replaced those counts with far more serious charges: kidnapping with a weapon, a life felony, and aggravated battery with great bodily harm and a deadly weapon, a first-degree felony. The Information alleges he confined the alleged victim between Feb. 21 and Feb. 23 using “a pair of scissors and/or a knife,” and cut her hair and cut her with a knife, causing “great bodily harm and/or permanent disfigurement, to wit: a scar(s).”
He has pleaded not guilty and demanded a jury trial. He has remained free on bond in that case since Feb. 26.
The state filed an amended discovery exhibit on Wednesday, July 8, listing six essential witnesses and disclosing that police reports, body-worn camera footage, crime scene photographs, a domestic violence assessment and 911 dispatch records had been turned over to the defense. A new trial prosecutor, Assistant State Attorney Janeen Zamora, was assigned that same day. A report hearing is set for Thursday, Sept. 3.
As of the online docket, the felony case reflects no entry addressing Kalmbach’s bond following the July 14 arrest. He is now free on bond in both cases at once, with the felony trial set for Sept. 14 and the misdemeanor arraignment two days later.
Ohio political connections
Kalmbach lost the 2024 Republican primary in Ohio House District 69 to incumbent state Rep. Kevin Miller. His campaign was endorsed by U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan and U.S. Rep. Bob Latta and backed by Americans for Prosperity and the Center for Christian Virtue.
State Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery) donated $1,000 to Kalmbach’s campaign on Feb. 20, 2024, according to pre-primary campaign finance reports filed with the Ohio Secretary of State. Campaign finance records show the financial relationship ran in both directions: Kalmbach Feeds donated $250 to Click’s committee in 2021, Paul Kalmbach Sr. donated $250 in September 2024, and Daniel Kalmbach donated $350 to Click in May 2025.
Kalmbach is the son of Paul Kalmbach Sr., chief executive of Kalmbach Feeds in Upper Sandusky and a longtime Republican donor. Independent journalist DJ Byrnes at The Rooster reported during the 2024 campaign on questions about Kalmbach’s residency and professional background.
Kalmbach has not been convicted of any offense in either case. He is presumed innocent.
