Republican candidate Charles Herbster, who is the front-runner in the Nebraska gubernatorial race, has been accused of sexual misconduct by eight women, including a GOP state Senator, Raw Story reports.
Citing sources with knowledge of the accusations, the report stated that, while campaigning, Herbster would go up to a group and introduce himself. Wearing his signature cowboy hat and suit, he would extend a handshake to the men. “But when young women reached out for a handshake, as well, on at least several occasions he pulled them into an embrace instead,” and sometimes he went further, according to eight women who spoke with the Nebraska Examiner.
Republican State Sen. Julie Slama told the outlet that during an event in 2019 Herbster walked up to her and reached down her skirt, without her consent, and touched her inappropriately. The incident happened in the middle of a crowded ballroom at the Douglas County Republican Party’s annual Elephant Remembers dinner, she said.
At the time, Slama had been recently appointed to the District 1 legislative seat representing southeast Nebraska. Herbster, the CEO of Conklin Co., owns a farm and a house in the district, according to the report.
A witness confirmed to the publication that she saw Herbster reach up Slama’s skirt. That witness and two others said they saw Herbster grope another young woman on her buttocks at the same event.
Six other women told the Nebraska Examiner that Herbster touched them inappropriately when they were saying hello or goodbye to him, or when they were posing for a photograph by his side.
Read it at Raw Story.
