Arizona House Candidate Says She Was Raped While Fixing a Campaign Sign

Bernadette Greene-Placentia, the Democratic candidate in Arizona's 8th Congressional District, says she was raped in August while trying to repair a campaign sign. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office confirmed to ABC News that a report was filed and that an investigation is ongoing.

Greene-Placentia is challenging Republican Rep. Abe Hamadeh. She described the attack to the Phoenix New Times, a local news outlet, and her account was also reported by ABC News, the BBC and the New York Times.

What the candidate says happened

According to the Phoenix New Times, Greene-Placentia was walking toward a campaign sign in a parking lot in Sun City, north of Phoenix, at around 2 a.m. She said she was attacked and subdued, and then woke up to find she was being raped by an unknown assailant. A campaign spokesperson told ABC News the attack happened on Aug. 14.

The BBC reported that she said she was knocked unconscious. Citing the New York Times, the BBC said she described her memory as spotty and did not get a good look at either of two assailants, whom she described as white men. She told the Phoenix New Times that one of them may have made a remark about her political affiliation along with a misogynistic slur, though she said she could not be certain.

The report and the investigation

The sheriff's office told ABC News that a report was filed on Aug. 31 and that it could not comment further. The BBC reported that she did not contact police at first and filed the report two weeks after the attack. A sheriff's spokesman told the New York Times the investigation was continuing.

The BBC reported that she did not see a doctor and did not receive a sexual assault examination.

What the campaign and her opponent said

Campaign manager Isaiah Lopez told ABC News that Greene-Placentia was out of contact for two days after the alleged assault. He said she appeared noticeably distraught at a canvass event in Chandler on the following Sunday, and that he and the communications manager spoke with her privately that day, when she told them what had happened. The BBC, citing the Phoenix New Times, reported that she stayed in an apartment apart from her husband and skipped a campaign event, and that people close to her noticed a change in her behavior.

A campaign spokesperson said she spoke publicly so other survivors know they are not alone, and asked that her privacy be respected.

Hamadeh said in a statement that he had read the story and urged authorities to investigate thoroughly, including by finding all possible camera footage, and to prosecute the crime fully. He said no American should become a victim of crime in their own community.

Why it matters for voters

The allegation puts a violent crime at the center of a House race a few weeks before the election. Greene-Placentia said she decided to go public because she could not keep talking about fighting for Arizonans without also fighting for victims of sexual assault. She told the Phoenix New Times she had felt embarrassed and had wanted to forget it.

She also said she worried some voters might see her disclosure as a political stunt in a heavily Republican district, and that it could overshadow her message on affordability, according to the BBC. For residents, the practical question is the status of the criminal case, which remains open. The sheriff's office has released no findings, and no suspects have been identified in the sources.

The ABC News and BBC accounts differ slightly in emphasis, but they agree on the date of the attack, the location and the existence of an ongoing investigation.

Around Prague, based on reporting by ABC News, BBC News