Virginia GOP Sends Explicit Mailers About Dem Candidate’s Sex Tape With Her Husband

Virginia Republicans are really stooping low to try and prevent Democrat Susanna Gibson from winning a competitive district.

By Susan Rinkunas | October 24, 2023 | 5:20pm

Politics

Virginia GOP Sends Explicit Mailers About Dem Candidate’s Sex Tape With Her Husband

Virginia Republicans aren’t done harassing Democratic state House candidate Susanna Gibson, the woman they’re trying to scandalize for having sex with her own husband on livestreams for tips. Not only did an anonymous GOP operative leak archived videos and screenshots to reporters, but now—with two weeks to go until Election Day—the state Republican party has sent out thousands of mailers with censored quotes and screenshots from the archived streams.

In totally unrelated news, if the GOP sweeps the legislature, they will pass an abortion ban at 15 weeks or earlier. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s PAC has spent $1.4 million on an ad claiming there is no proposed abortion ban, just a “limit”—yet GOP candidates have called it a ban for months. Gibson’s Republican opponent for the House of Delegates’ 57th district is David Owen, who supports the proposed 15-week abortion ban.

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Let’s back up: Gibson, a nurse practitioner, and her husband, John, had an account on the website Chaturbate where they livestreamed themselves having sex and asked viewers for tips. Those videos were archived on other sites without the Gibsons’ knowledge or consent, and a Virginia Republican operative sent that material to The Washington Post and the Associated Press in September. She vowed to stay in the race, saying “It won’t intimidate me and it won’t silence me.”

Gibson’s lawyer said he believed these actions violated Virginia’s revenge porn law, which makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to “maliciously” distribute sexual or nude images of someone else with “intent to coerce, harass, or intimidate.”

But no lawsuits have been filed to date and Republicans are doubling down. On Tuesday, NBC 12 reported that the Republican Party of Virginia sent several thousand fliers to voters in the 57th district. The fliers were inside envelopes with red text that reads “Warning: Explicit material enclosed” and “Do not open if you are under the age of 18.” (Teens and tweens famously follow all instructions they’re given.) The fliers also quote coverage from right-wing sites the Daily Caller and the Daily Wire.

The Gibson campaign said in a statement that this is a “desperate” attempt to deflect from unpopular GOP positions. “David Owen and the Virginia GOP are trying to distract voters from their extreme agenda to ban abortion, defund schools, and allow violent criminals to access weapons of war. Voters are tired of these desperate attacks, and they will not be fooled by them,” they said. “From day one, Susanna has been focused on protecting reproductive freedom, fully funding our schools, and keeping our communities safe. Nothing will ever deter her commitment to our community.”

NBC 12 asked some 57th District voters how they felt about the mailing and said none were willing to speak on camera. While they felt people should probably know about Gibson’s cam work, they said it “seemed a tad extreme.” Amanda Litman, the co-founder of Run For Something, which helps women run for office, called the move “wildly fucked up.”

A spokesperson of the House Democratic Caucus said that “the MAGA Republicans can’t help themselves from showing their true colors.”

Political analyst and University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato told NBC 12 that the Virginia GOP sending these mailers may indicate that the race is still close. “They have decided that this will benefit their candidate. You wonder whether perhaps a private survey indicated that Susanna Gibson was doing better than they expected her to because that is a very competitive district,” Sabato said. “It could even be said under certain circumstances it leans democratic.”

I’m not looking forward to whatever else the Virginia GOP tries to pull in the next 14 days.