Congressional candidate raped during campaign

The woman claims she was attacked and raped in August as she tried to fix one of her campaign's damaged advertising posters.

Bernadette Green-Placentia, a trucker and small business owner, shared her story with the local Phoenix New Times. It is alleged that the attack took place on August 14.

The Democratic candidate running in a district that includes part of Phoenix told the newspaper that she was crossing the parking lot just after 2 a.m. to fix a campaign poster when an assailant hit her on the head, causing her to pass out.

Green-Placentia told the newspaper she woke up to find a man on her and found him raping her. She recalled another man approaching and pushing her in the leg, after which she said she kicked him. The man said, "Not even worth it," and the two attackers left, leaving her face-to-face in the parking lot, she recalled.

The candidate said her memories of the incident and its aftermath were vague and told the newspaper she did not remember getting up off the pavement and coming home.

“I only remember those little episodes,” Green-Placentia told the Phoenix New Times. As much as I wanted to remember, I tried very, very hard to remember as many things as I could. But that is what I have come to.”.

She said she may have had a concussion as a result of the attack and that her body was covered in bruises. She said she initially wanted to forget what had happened and felt “embarrassed” by deciding not to report the attack. But she told the newspaper that during the campaign she often spoke about fighting for the people of Arizona, "and I didn't feel that I could continue to talk about it if I didn't also fight for women who were victims of sexual assault.".

Green-Placentia told her campaign staff and husband about the attack days after it happened and reported it to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office two weeks later, The Phoenix New Times reported.

“It was incredibly difficult for Bernadette to speak publicly about what happened,” a campaign official told The Guardian on Wednesday after the Phoenix New Times article was published. She chose to share her story because she knows that many victims suffer in silence and hopes that by sharing her experiences, others will understand that they are not alone.

“I need to let women know that it’s OK to talk about it,” Green-Placentia told the paper.

Stephanie Simachek, a state representative and friend of Green Placentia, said a congressional candidate told her about the attack in early September in an interview with the Phoenix New Times: I felt nauseous and it was extremely disturbing. That was a wake-up call to me. I think that often we, the candidates and the elected, think that this is not going to happen to us.”.

A spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office declined to comment, saying the investigation was ongoing.

Green-Placentia is running against Republican incumbent Abraham Hamadeh.