Some Democrats in the commonwealth of Virginia are rallying around a House of Delegates candidate who posted videos online that showed her engaging in sexual acts with her husband while soliciting tips.
Virginia State Sen. L. Louise Lucas, a leading Democratic lawmaker in Virginia, came to the defense of Democratic House of Delegates candidate Susanna Gibson, calling on voters to ‘make this the biggest fundraising day of (Gibson’s) campaign’ along with a link to donate to the campaign.
‘Susanna and I just crossed over 100 donations today to fight back against the Republicans,’ Lucas wrote in another post. ‘If you are as pissed as I am then please donate tonight!’
Lucas accused Virginia’s Republican governor of being behind the story leak in an effort to ‘try to embarrass and humiliate her and they failed completely.’
A Washington Post report earlier this week first revealed that Gibson, a 40-year-old nurse practitioner and mother of two, used a platform called Chaturbate to stream sex acts with her husband and solicited ‘tips’ from viewers for performing certain acts that would go to a ‘good cause.’
Gibson posted more than a dozen videos in September 2022, after she had officially entered the race in suburban Richmond for the House of Delegates in the 57th district.
‘Anybody who looks at this knows it’s a hit job,’ said Amanda Linton, a 45-year-old defense contractor who donated $25 to Gibson’s campaign after reading about the videos. Linton said she plans to donate another $100 to Gibson’s campaign even though she can’t vote for her because she lives outside her district.
Emily’s List, an advocacy group for Democratic female candidates, also defended Gibson.
‘Susanna originally ran for office because of the overturning of Roe and she’s been very outspoken on standing up for reproductive rights. People are coming out in support of Susanna because they know that Republicans are coming after her because she was standing up for them,’ said spokesperson Lauren Chou.
Gibson responded to the controversy by calling it ‘an illegal invasion of my privacy designed to humiliate me.’
‘My political opponents and their Republican allies have proven they’re willing to commit a sex crime to attack me and my family because there’s no line they won’t cross to silence women when they speak up,’ Gibson told CNN in a statement on Tuesday.
If Gibson stays in the race, she is set to face her GOP opponent, David Owen, in a Nov. 7 election.
Associated Press contributed to this report