Labor has chosen former New South Wales state politician Diane Beamer to run for the marginal western Sydney seat of Lindsay, the ABC understands.
The federal electorate is currently held by Labor backbencher Emma Husar with a margin of just 1 per cent, but Ms Husar announced she would not recontest the seat in August after accusations by a former staffer were made public.
At the time, she said the allegations were "malicious" and her reputation had been "completely shredded".
But she has since said "slut-shaming" forced her into deciding to quit politics, and indicated she would like to remain.
Ms Beamer was a state minister and was the member for the electorate of Badgerys Creek and then Mulgoa between 1995 and 2011.
The seat covers much of the same geographic area as the electorate of Lindsay.
The ABC understands she has not yet been formally preselected, but locals within the Labor party urged her to run and she has agreed.
Labor members believe Ms Beamer is already popular in the electorate, making her a good choice to contest the very marginal seat.
A NSW Labor Party investigation into Ms Husar found she subjected staff to unreasonable management, but that the leaking of complaints against her was reprehensible.
It also found the allegations of sexual harassment and lewd conduct were not supported.
