Tauranga's Labour candidate is standing behind David Cunliffe despite allegations the party leader advocated on behalf of controversial businessman Donghua Liu.
Rachel Jones yesterday told the Bay of Plenty Times she supported Mr Cunliffe.
"I think it's a bit of a media beat-up, really. To me that's not a letter that's anything about advocacy. It's a fairly basic process letter," she said.
"Given it was 11 years ago. I don't hold it against him for not remembering it, given the thousands of letters that go through his office.
"For me it's a storm in a teacup," she said.