--- title: Donald Trump Accuser Rachel Crooks Running for Office description: Rachel Crooks, one of several women to accuse President Donald Trump of sexual misconduct, is running for office. canonical: https://time.com/5135352/rachel-crooks-trump-accuser-running-office/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-06T16:29:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:10:06.835Z article:section: Politics og:title: One of the Women Who Accused Donald Trump of Sexual Misconduct Is Running for Office og:description: 'My voice should have been heard then, and I'll still fight for it to be heard now' og:url: https://time.com/5135352/rachel-crooks-trump-accuser-running-office/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta94723b4316bcb78/6988f49ecf40a8ce4bc4a8e1/rachel-crooks.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Women Accusing Trump Of Sexual Harassment Hold Press Conference In NYC og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: One of the Women Who Accused Donald Trump of Sexual Misconduct Is Running for Office twitter:description: 'My voice should have been heard then, and I'll still fight for it to be heard now' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta94723b4316bcb78/6988f49ecf40a8ce4bc4a8e1/rachel-crooks.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # One of the Women Who Accused Donald Trump of Sexual Misconduct Is Running for Office  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Feb 6, 2018 4:29 PM CUT  Rachel Crooks speaks during the press conference held by women accusing Trump of sexual harassment in NYC on December 11, 2017 in New York City. Rachel Crooks speaks during the press conference held by women accusing Trump of sexual harassment in NYC on December 11, 2017 in New York City.Monica Schipper—Getty Images  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Feb 6, 2018 4:29 PM CUT Rachel Crooks, one of the [women who accused](http://time.com/5058646/donald-trump-accusers/ "undefined") Donald Trump of sexual misconduct, is running for Ohio’s state legislature. The 35-year-old Democrat filed petitions on Monday to run for Ohio’s 88th House District, currently represented by Republican Bill Reineke. Crooks told _Cosmopolitan_ that she was [inspired to run,](http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a16566742/rachel-crooks-trump-accuser-running-for-office/ "undefined") in part, because her voice wasn’t heard when she accused then-candidate Trump in October 2016 of [kissing her without her consent](http://time.com/4529049/women-allege-donald-trump-touched-inappropriate/ "undefined"), allegations which Trump has denied. “I think my voice should have been heard then, and I’ll still fight for it to be heard now,” Crooks told the magazine. “Americans are really upset with politics as usual, and I want to be a voice for them.” > [](https://twitter.com/OhioHouseDems/status/960570875652313088) Crooks told the New York _Times_ in October 2016 that Trump [kissed her without her consent](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/13/us/politics/donald-trump-women.html "undefined") outside an elevator in Trump Tower in 2005\. Trump denied her allegation, telling the _Times:_ “None of this ever took place.” In December 2017, amid the #MeToo movement, Crooks and two other women accusing Trump called for a Congressional investigation into the[ sexual misconduct allegations](http://time.com/5058518/donald-trump-sexual-harassment-allegations/ "undefined") against him. Trump denies all claims. Crooks, one of a [record number](http://time.com/5107499/record-number-of-women-are-running-for-office/ "undefined") of first-time female candidates running for office in 2018, said she doesn’t want the allegations to define her campaign, which has the backing of the Ohio Democratic Party. She said she wants to help create jobs, repair the state’s education system and increase access to affordable health care. “I think there will be a lot of people who see value in \[my campaign\],” she told _Cosmopolitan_. “But I hope more so because I’m a viable candidate rather than a participant in the #MeToo movement.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5135352/rachel-crooks-trump-accuser-running-office/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5135352/rachel-crooks-trump-accuser-running-office/"},"headline":"One of the Women Who Accused Donald Trump of Sexual Misconduct Is Running for Office","datePublished":"2018-02-06T16:29:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:10:06.835Z","description":"'My voice should have been heard then, and I'll still fight for it to be heard now'","url":"https://time.com/5135352/rachel-crooks-trump-accuser-running-office/","keywords":["Ohio","Donald Trump","sexual misconduct"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta94723b4316bcb78/6988f49ecf40a8ce4bc4a8e1/rachel-crooks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta94723b4316bcb78/6988f49ecf40a8ce4bc4a8e1/rachel-crooks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Women Accusing Trump Of Sexual Harassment Hold Press Conference In NYC","caption":"Women Accusing Trump Of Sexual Harassment Hold Press Conference In NYC","creditText":"Monica Schipper—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/ohio/","name":"Ohio"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5135352/rachel-crooks-trump-accuser-running-office/","name":"One of the Women Who Accused Donald Trump of Sexual Misconduct Is Running for Office"}}]}] ```