The Quad City coordinator for the Dan Rutherford for Illinois Governor campaign says she stands by the candidate and believes his accuser is lying.
"This doesn't pass the smell test. We know politics in Illinois is not for the faint of heart, and it's full steam ahead," said Susie Carpentier of Rock Island.
"To me, it was more a kick in the gut that someone would make accusations against this man which are false," she said on Tuesday, one day after a former staffer filed a federal lawsuit claiming Rutherford forced him to do political work on state time and made unwanted sexual advances toward him on several occasions.
Rutherford has four events scheduled in eastern Illinois on Wednesday.