She has decided we should know her name. It is Vanessa Tyson. And she has decided we should know her story. It is that a man who is poised to become the governor of Virginia sexually assaulted her more than 14 years ago.

Now comes a test for the rest of us — one that shows what was learned, if anything, as the country processed hauntingly similar allegations last year against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh.

Democrats and women’s groups rallied in support of Christine Blasey Ford, when she claimed that Kavanaugh had tried to force himself on her during a drunken encounter at a party of high schoolers in the early 1980s.

Will Tyson get the same reception, given that the target of her allegation is Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, a rising star in the Democratic Party and the man many hope will replace embattled Gov. Ralph Northam?