Virginia Democrat Susanna Gibson, whose campaign was catapulted into the spotlight following the release of sexually explicit videos, said her narrow loss in a Virginia state Senate race was because "voters didn't care" about the scandal.
Gibson, who lost to Republican David Owen in the 57th District in the November legislative election, said "very few people actually seemed to care" about the leaked videos. Initial reports stated that she performed sex acts for money but Gibson has pushed back against the claims, stating that she was unaware she was being recorded or that the videos would be disseminated.
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When asked in an interview with Politico what she drew from the fact that the race was close — she lost by less than 1,000 votes — Gibson said, "That voters didn't care."
"I took more time off than originally intended and I knocked, on average, 100 doors a day for two months," Gibson said. "You have conversations with voters and you can kind of tell who knew and who didn’t know, and who knew and didn’t care. Very few people actually seemed to care — very few. I can count them on less than two hands."
In the weeks leading up to the election, Republicans wanted to remind voters of the leaked videos. Mailers containing screenshots of the videos were sent to Virginians, with the envelopes warning that explicit materials were contained inside and that minors should not open the envelope, according to the Associated Press.
"The Republican Party in Virginia never would have sent those mailers if they didn’t know I was going to win or certainly could win," Gibson said.
"After the initial shock wore off, I think it had little to do with the race," the Democrat added.
Gibson said she is considering legal action against the person who "disseminated illegal pornographic images" of her so they can be held accountable. The failed state Senate candidate said she is working with current members of the Virginia General Assembly to amend the state's current revenge pornography law.
"It’s going to be a long process. Subpoenas take a long time," Gibson said. "But there is a special victims detective who also has FBI privileges looking into it now. She has been for about a month now. I’m optimistic."
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Gibson's attorney had issued a statement at the height of the scandal stating that Gibson had never acknowledged or consented to videos being recorded. When asked why she didn't take a defiant approach and admit she performed the acts alleged in the video, she "laughs" and says, "Well, I did not do everything that they said I did. But you know, and to people’s point, they were correct in saying: Hey, don’t give it air."
"I think what people do in their private lives, digitally — if it is legal, it is consensual, and has no bearing on their ability to do their jobs — I think there should be a barrier," Gibson added when asked about the barriers between sharing aspects of digital and nondigital life. "I think that it is unethical to make people’s private lives — especially their sexual private lives — public and part of how we think about them and their ability to do their jobs and make positive contributions to their communities."