# Embattled Louisville Democrat faces new calls to resign amid primary challenges  
**Published:** 2026-05-12T09:00:18.000Z  
**Source:** [Kentucky Lantern](https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/05/12/embattled-louisville-democrat-faces-new-calls-to-resign-amid-primary-challenges/)  
**Republished from:** [Kentucky Lantern](https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/05/12/embattled-louisville-democrat-faces-new-calls-to-resign-amid-primary-challenges/) (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)  
**Canonical:** https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/05/12/embattled-louisville-democrat-faces-new-calls-to-resign-amid-primary-challenges/

By McKenna Horsley, [Kentucky Lantern](https://kentuckylantern.com) · May 12, 2026

![Rep. Daniel Grossberg, D-Louisville, right, speaks to reporters after a Legislative Ethics Commission meeting with his attorney, Anna Whites. (Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley)](https://kentuckylantern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IMG_5769-1024x728.jpg) (Louisville Democrat Rep. Daniel Grossberg, right, speaks to reporters with his attorney, Anna Whites, after a Legislative Ethics Commission meeting. (Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley))

Following renewed calls from within his party to resign from office after a recent newspaper report on sexual assault allegations against him, Louisville Democratic Rep. Daniel Grossberg says he’s remaining in the race.

In a Monday statement to the Kentucky Lantern, Grossberg said voters in the 30th House District are wary of the timing of the story. The state’s primary elections are next week on Tuesday, May 19.

“My team and I have knocked on nearly 1,000 doors since the story hit last Thursday and my voters have expressed deep skepticism on the timing of this 20-year-old allegation,” he said.  “I’m glad our supporters know a political hit when they see one.”

The[Lexington Herald-Leader](https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article315660197.html)reported last week a former college classmate of Grossberg’s, Christina Ross, alleged he assaulted her about 20 years ago. In the days since, top Kentucky Democrats have called on Grossberg to resign, including[Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18dUcqntED/) and [Kentucky Democratic Party Chair Colmon Elridge](https://x.com/KyDems/status/2052432291385749507?s=20).

“He should have resigned the first time, but the voters in the 30th District have an opportunity to vote on behalf of women and girls when they make their voices heard in the May 19th primary,” Coleman said.

Questions about Grossberg’s behavior have been raised since three women in Kentucky politics told [the Herald-Leader in 2024](https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article291200690.html)about moments of improper behavior they experienced in interactions with Grossberg. The women were initially anonymously quoted but later identified themselves as Lexington Fayette Urban County Council member Emma Curtis, Kentucky Young Democrats President Allison Wiseman and former Democratic House candidate Sarah Ritter.

Earlier this year, Grossberg [agreed to pay $2,000 in fines](https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/02/02/embattled-louisville-democrat-agrees-to-pay-2k-in-fines-to-ethics-commission/) to the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission and claimed that the commission had “taken my side on its finding of facts.” Meanwhile, House Democratic caucus leaders later said “a public reprimand is a consequence for conduct that violated ethical standards” and again called on Grossberg to resign from office.

At the local level, Louisville Democratic Party [endorsed three primary challengers](https://www.louisvilledems.com/2026-voter-guide#house) against Grossberg — Cassie Lyles, Max Morley and Mitra Subedi. [No Republicans](https://web.sos.ky.gov/CandidateFilings/Default.aspx?id=12)filed to run for the 30th House District, which includes parts of neighborhoods like West Buechel and Poplar Hills, meaning that the winner of the May Democratic primary will likely hold the legislative seat for the next two years.

Will Carle, a Democratic strategist based in Louisville, said that there could be a chance that votes are split among candidates in a crowded primary, “but I do think that that’s very unlikely in this particular scenario, given the egregious nature of the allegations against Rep. Grossberg, and feel very confident you’re going to see a new state rep from the 30th House District.”

Even though the initial allegations were reported nearly two years ago, the latest could create a “snowball effect” against Grossberg, Carle said.

“I think that if the other three candidates are doing their job, they are communicating this through their paid communications plan and at the doors and reminding voters that, unfortunately, their member of the General Assembly has done something that is unforgivable and is not something that deserves their vote for reelection,” Carle added.

As for what Grossberg’s political career will look like if he loses the primary next week, Carle said: “Usually people that have the level of narcissism that he has do not go away quietly, but it would be my great hope and the hope of the victims and the party and the general public that he would go back into private life and try to find treatment or relief for whatever it is that is causing him to act in such an unscrupulous way.”

In response to the latest allegations from Ross, Grossberg provided a statement, which he has shared with other media outlets, saying that “this is the first I am hearing of these false claims.”

“I was never contacted by anyone about this. Not the college, not the police, and certainly not by Ms. Ross. None of this has ever come up before. I am disappointed but not surprised by this desperate attempt to discredit me on the eve of my reelection in order to clear the way for my political opponent,” Grossberg said, adding that the story was published shortly after PAC against him was started.

The PAC in question, [Sketchy Dan](https://www.sketchydan.com/), has been started by Jason Perkey, a Democratic strategist who is self-funding it to highlight media reports about Grossberg without editorializing the situation. The name is a reference to[controversial columns](https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article290829519.html) he wrote in college under the name “Sketchy Dan.”

Perkey also denied that he knew of Ross’ allegations before the Herald-Leader reported on them last week.

Asked if he had concerns about votes being split among the candidates in a way that could allow Grossberg to eke out a win, Perkey said no, “because of the program that we are running.

“If there wasn’t a person or an entity that was delivering the record about him and his allegations, I would be concerned but that’s not the case. Now we have a robust program that is delivering this,” Perkey said, adding the calls on Grossberg to resign from elected Democrats also generate more news reports.

With Democratic officials, such as Gov. Andy Beshear, having called for Grossberg’s resignation before, that message carries weight with Democratic voters “because people who are unfamiliar with candidates are looking for folks who they are familiar with to give them some guidance as to who they may want to vote for,” Perkey said.

Perkey said he’s hearing “shock” from voters in the district, not about Grossberg but “shock about what he’s being accused of.”

“They’re not shocked that it’s Daniel who’s being accused of this,” Perkey said. “They’re shocked that women have had to endure the harassment and the assaults that he’s being accused of.”

## Sources

- [Kentucky Lantern](https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/05/12/embattled-louisville-democrat-faces-new-calls-to-resign-amid-primary-challenges/)