SHELBYVILLE, Ky. — As polls show him trailing in the U.S. Senate race against Republican Rand Paul, Democrat Jack Conway said Thursday that the alleged stomping of a liberal activist by a Paul supporter is "a potential game-changer" in the heated contest.

Conway, after talking to about 25 supporters in front of the Shelby County Courthouse, told reporters that the stomping incident is "a game-changer if the Paul campaign continues to mishandle it and to fail to understand the signal that they are sending."

Voters go to the polls on Tuesday.

The Paul campaign has condemned the incident and now claims Conway is "grandstanding."

Paul's Bourbon County campaign coordinator, Tim Profitt, allegedly assaulted liberal activist Lauren Valle after two men tackled her when she tried to approach Paul before a debate Monday night at Kentucky Educational Television in Lexington. Profitt was as an unpaid volunteer for Paul’s campaign.

Profitt has been served a criminal summons and could face misdemeanor assault charges, but he said Valle instigated the incident and that she should apologize to him.

"To have your Bourbon County chairman stomp on the head of a woman is never appropriate," Conway said. "Resorting to physical violence against a woman is never appropriate."

Conway also criticized Paul for not returning $1,950 in contributions from Profitt.

"It's a potential game-changer, and the women of Kentucky have a big decision," Conway said.

Read more of this story at Kentucky.com