Ball “angry” suggestive photos were posted on the internet

Not much attention has been given to the race for congress in Virginia’s 1st district. Upstart Democrat, Krystal Ball has a run a spirited campaign, marked by her traveling around the district with a cardboard cutout of Rep. Rob Wittman, her opponent.  (A statement because Wittman won’t agree to a debate)

While Ball has been aggressive, her race has not garnered enough attention to be considered a real threat to Wittman, a Republican in a district that has been GOP since the 70’s.

Ball has tried hard to get the attention of the media in district that the Richmond, Washington, D.C. and Hampton Roads TV markets largely ignore because it is sandwiched between them.  Ball is now getting that media attention she craves, albeit not for the reasons she had hoped. A series of Republican blogs posted photos of her from a party where she is posing suggestively with a sex toy.

The photos, which we won’t link directly to, (some of which can be seen in our story that aired Tuesday night on NBC12), have already gone viral.  Ball’s story is set to go national. She is scheduled to appear on the Today Show later this week.

Before she makes the rounds across the country, Ball first spoke to NBC12.

She admitted the pictures are of her. They were taken at a private “gag” party with a small group of people right after she graduated from college. Also pictured are her ex-husband and her best friend.

Here is an extended clip from our conversation where she explains where the photos came from:

Ball said the photos, while embarrassing, were never meant to be posted on the internet. She said they were taken long before she ever thought about running for Congress.  But she also went on the attack. Saying the photos made her “angry” and she believes if she were a man they wouldn’t be getting nearly the attention:

As for her opponent, Rob Wittman stayed as far away from the fray as possible. Privately, he reached out specifically to Republican bloggers that he has worked with in the past and asked them not to post the photos. His campaign manager Casey Werderman provided me with the following statement:

“From the beginning our campaign has been focused on jobs and the economy, reigning in the out of control spending, supporting our military and cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay.  These issues are clearly plenty to keep us busy without talking about these pictures.  Rob is adamantly opposed to their display and we have asked that they be removed so that we can continue to discuss the issues important to the folks in the first district.”

This is probably just the beginning of this photos being splashed all over television and the internet. We will see if this controversy makes the race in Virginia’s 1st District any more interesting.