Former US senator chases down man accused of sexually assaulting her on run, she says

Former Arizona Sen. Martha McSally said she was sexually assaulted while jogging in Iowa.

“A man came up behind me and he engulfed me in a bear hug,” McSally, 57, said in a Nov. 8 Instagram post. “He molested and fondled me until I fought him off.”

McSally said she chased the assailant down into a shrub-covered area, where he hid as she called police.

“I don’t think they found him, and I’m okay,” she said, adding that she was still experiencing an adrenaline rush.

She said she was running along the Iowa side of the Missouri River when the attack occurred and had been in the area for a speaking engagement.

“It could have been much worse,” she said. “I still have a lot to process.”

McSally, a Republican, served in the House of Representatives and represented Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District from 2015 to 2019, according to Ballotpedia. She was appointed to serve as an Arizona senator in 2018 before losing her seat to Kyrsten Sinema in a special election in 2020.

McSally previously served in the Air Force, where she became the first woman to pilot a fighter jet during combat, according to her website.

During her time in the Air Force, she said she was raped by a superior officer, according to her 2019 Senate testimony.

The alleged assault in Iowa “tapped into a nerve of other sexual abuse and assault that I’ve been through in the past,” she said. “In this case, I felt like I took my power back. He tried to take power from me, but I turned it on him.”

If you have experienced sexual assault and need someone to talk to, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline for support at 1-800-656-4673 or visit the hotline's online chatroom.

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