The future of abortion rights in Virginia may depend on what voters think of Chaturbate

• The Virginia legislatures' elections are a toss-up.

• If Republicans can obtain a trifecta, the governor wants to pursue a ban on abortion.

• A Democratic candidate in a key swing district is in the midst of a scandal over previous work in pornography.

Yesterday, The Washington Post reported that Susanna Gibson, the Democratic nominee in the race for the 57th District of the Virginia House of Delegates, had publicly performed pornography on Chaturbate, a web site where users can stream live sex shows, as recently as last year.

The story landed differently in different corners of the internet. Conservative news outlets followed the Post's story with considerably more detailed reporting on the nature of the content, all of which had been streamed live to internet users and later archived on sites that specialize in recording live sex streams. Some journalists questioned the Post's decision to publicize the story, with one describing it as "outing a sex worker."

Gibson herself described it as "revenge porn" and suggested that the sources who tipped off the Post to the publicly available online archives of her public pornographic perf romances were violating the law. "It's illegal and it's disgusting to disseminate this kind of material, and we're working closely with the F.B.I. and local prosecutors to bring the wrongdoers to justice," her attorney told the New York Times. At least one prominent Virginia politician, Senate President Pro Tem L. Louise Lucas, immediately came to Gibson's defense, blaming operatives working for Virginia's Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin for trying "to embarrass and humiliate her."

Regardless of the manner of the work, a politician's previous employment and actions will impact how voters perceive them. Just as Mitt Romney's decision to cut jobs at companies owned by Bain Capital would go on to hamper his electoral chances in 2012, a history of sex work may impact the fate of Democrat Susanna Gibson in the 57th.

More importantly to Virginians, though, is the impact that this might have on abortion rights in the entire state.

As it stands, Youngkin has said that it's his mission to implement a 15-week abortion ban in the commonwealth. So far, the only thing standing in his way has been the Virginia State Senate, where Democrats hold a slim 22-18 majority. In the House of Delegates, Republicans hold a 50-46 majority.

If Democrats want to keep abortion legal, they will have to hold one of those chambers in this election, either re-taking the House or holding the Senate. Neither will be easy.

Polling in state legislative races is scant, but a poll from VCU's Wilder School of Government in August found that 47% of Virginians wanted the GOP to control the House of Delegates compared to 41% who preferred Democrats. In the Senate, preference for the parties was tied 44%-44%.

The election is already razor-thin. In the Senate, there are 11 open seats, 32 contested elections, and eight of the 40 seats in the Senate are considered to be toss-ups by Ballotpedia. It really could go either way.

The House of Delegates is also an utter toss-up. Democrats have a chance to retake the chamber, but that will likely be decided by less than ten particularly competitive districts.

One of those districts is Gibson's, the 57th, which is rated competitive or a toss-up by Ballotpedia,  CNalysis, and VPap.

In 2020, Biden won the state of Virginia as a whole by over 10 percentage points, only for a year later to see Youngkin elected governor by a 2-point margin, a 12-point swing.

Biden won Gibson's district by just over 5 percentage points in 2020.

In the 2022 Congressional midterm, the votes in what's now the 57th split 50% Democratic to 49.1% Republican. It's a district that Democrats can't spare if they want the best chance of maintaining control of at least one chamber of Virginia's legislature.

So it falls to the voters of Short Pump, Virginia, to decide whether performing on Chaturbate is disqualifying for them, even if that means giving the go-ahead to a statewide abortion ban.

Read the original article on Business Insider