A mailer paid for by a Republican political action committee is taking aim at state Rep. Cherlynn Stevenson, saying the Lexington Democrat “should have protected women” from embattled Rep. Daniel Grossberg.
“What did Cherlynn Stevenson know and when?” asks the mailer, which was paid for by the GOPAC Election Fund.
In a series of Herald-Leader articles, Grossberg has been accused of sexually harassing young women and acting out at a Louisville strip club, where he was banned after witnesses said he touched one dancer inappropriately and offered another money for sex.
The flier accuses Stevenson, the House minority caucus chair, of using “House Democratic Caucus funds to protect a predator instead of protecting young women.” It says she and other House Democrats “still gave Grossberg money and manpower to help him to a 50-vote primary win.”
The Kentucky House of Representatives’ Democratic Caucus voted last month to expel Grossberg.
The Louisville Democrat is running opposed in November, defending his 30th House District seat. He was first elected in 2022.
House Democratic leadership, including Stevenson, called for an ethics investigation and suspended him from caucusing with fellow Democrats in July on the day after the first Herald-Leader article detailed “creepy” and “weird” messages Grossberg sent to three women who routinely interacted with legislators through their work with advocacy organizations or lobbying firms.
Attorneys for the Legislative Research Commission had already launched a separate investigation.
The flier says it was “not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.”
Stevenson’s opponent in the general election is Republican Vanessa Grossl.
Grossl is not mentioned on the mailer, which urges voters to “vote against” Stevenson.
Stevenson has represented the 88th District, which includes parts of Fayette and Scott counties, since 2019.
An attempt to reach Stevenson and Grossl were not immediately successful Friday night.
Grossberg has denied doing anything wrong and rebuffed multiple calls for his resignation.
The Louisville lawmaker was elected to his first term in office last year.
