The Wall Street Journal reports:

Behind the stunning downfall of two Democratic politicians this midterm cycle is a 29-year-old lawyer and progressive social media influencer.

Cheyenne Hunt played a key role in surfacing serious accusations of assault and sexual misconduct against Maine Democrat Graham Platner and former Rep. Eric Swalwell, the California Democrat who was also a leading candidate for governor. Both men have denied the allegations. Platner ended his Senate campaign on Wednesday and Swalwell suspended his gubernatorial campaign and resigned from Congress in April.

Hunt’s status as a progressive social media influencer—she posts almost daily to her hundreds of thousands of followers—has made her a friendly face for accusers and their allies seeking someone to reach out to about allegations of sexual assault against powerful men. She leverages a digital-era playbook, coordinating with organizers and other influencers to gather stories and then post them on social media. She then connects the women with pro bono lawyers and coordinates with journalists at mainstream outlets.

Although a lawyer by training, she doesn’t represent accusers herself.

In early June, Democratic organizer Stacy Leafsong saw a video Hunt had posted in which she rescinded her endorsement of Platner after a woman accused him of abuse. Hunt bucked many in the party, who were sticking with the candidate at the time.

Leafsong was helping another woman, Jenny Racicot, go public with allegations that Platner sexually assaulted her and immediately viewed Hunt as an ally who could help. With Hunt’s assistance, Racicot’s account was first published in Politico, dealing a fatal blow to the campaign.

“It was like a balm, a soothing connection in a really turbulent situation,” Leafsong said of Hunt’s involvement. “Finally we’ve got some sanity and some support.”

Hunt is using her success as a springboard to take on new targets. She launched a nonprofit called Reckoning Action in May in the aftermath of Swalwell’s downfall to “fight across every arena where that subjugation operates: in Congress, in statehouses, in boardrooms, in the media.”

Her organization doesn’t charge for legal services or other resources. The nonprofit hasn’t disclosed donors, and Hunt said she isn’t currently collecting a salary but is living off savings while she launches the organization. She said she doesn’t make significant income from content creation and uses social media primarily for organizing and activism.

Platner’s campaign has accused Hunt of being part of a group of “out of state establishment operatives,” that it said coached and coordinated his accusers. Hunt, a Democrat, lives in Orange County, Calif.

Hunt denied allegations that she was politically motivated, pointing out that she had previously backed Platner and was until recently executive director of Gen-Z for Change, a progressive advocacy group.

“Misogyny is a problem that is rampant in our culture and it’s beyond partisan lines,” Hunt said in an interview this week. “I’m not gonna tell women who come forward with credible allegations ‘I’m not going to help you because that [person is] a Democrat.’”

Her work has earned her trust from some of Platner’s erstwhile progressive allies. Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.) had been one of Platner’s strongest backers through a string of controversies but said that if there was ever a credible allegation of assault he was out. Hunt reached out to Khanna to warn him ahead of the Politico report on Racicot’s allegations. After it came out he quickly pulled his endorsement. [Continue reading…]