ANCHORAGE (AP) — A Fairbanks man who unsuccessfully ran for the state House two years ago has been charged with felony assault after Alaska State Troopers say he choked a woman during a drive to Anchorage.

Schaeffer Cox, 26, was arrested Monday and charged with second-degree assault involving domestic violence.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that a warrant was issued and Cox turned himself in Monday afternoon. He was booked at the Fairbanks Correctional Center. He posted $3,500 bail and was released.

Messages left for Cox at phone numbers listed on his campaign Web site were not returned Tuesday.

Cox was a delegate to the Republican state convention in 2008 and ran unsuccessfully against Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Fairbanks, in the GOP primary that year. He has been an outspoken advocate of firearms rights and was a leader in a Second Amendment Task Force that formed in Fairbanks.

Cox is accused of assaulting a woman Thursday on a drive to Anchorage. The assault did not involve a firearm, according to Alaska State Troopers.

An affidavit by an investigating officer said Cox got in an argument with the victim and punched her in the arm.

After the victim commented again, Cox grabbed her throat, pinned her against the door and squeezed her neck, choking her, the affidavit alleges. Cox eventually stopped and sat back in his seat before driving on to Anchorage.

According to the complaint, an Anchorage police officer contacted the victim and saw a fingernail scrape and minor bruising, redness and swelling on her neck.