Posted on 06/22/2006 9:16:59 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
If you're looking for a gay candidate to vote for in this fall's California legislative races, there are several out there. But they're more likely to be Republicans than Democrats.
GOP voters nominated five openly gay candidates in Assembly races. But all five will face general elections in urban districts with heavy Democratic registration advantages. This group includes William Chan in Sacramento (AD 9), Ralph Denney in northern San Diego (AD 76), Brenda Carol Green in South Central Los Angeles (AD 48), Mark Patrosso in San Jose (AD 23), and Steven Mark Sion in West Hollywood (AD 42). Only Denney and Sion ran opposed, but each won by at least 10 points.
By contrast, Democrats, who traditionally are far more supportive of gay causes, will only have two openly gay candidates in California legislative races this fall (Assembly incumbents John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, and Mark Leno, D-San Francisco).
Elena Popp--the lesbian candidate that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) Caucus chair Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, endorsed to replace her--came in third in the Democratic primary.
The only other openly gay non-incumbent seeking a Democratic nomination, Palm Springs Mayor Ron Oden, also lost in AD 80. The Senate currently has three openly gay Democrats: Christine Kehoe of San Diego, Sheila Kuehl of Santa Monica and Carol Migden of San Francisco--but none have to run for re-election this year.
All five gay GOP Assembly candidates will be endorsed by the California Log Cabin Republicans, according to the group's director, Jeff Bissiri. Bissiri admits they will face a tough time this fall, running in districts where Democrats hold a registration advantage varying from 54 percent to 20 percent. In 2004, Democrats took these seats by an average margin of 71 percent to 22 percent. This year, AD 23 will feature a rematch between Patrosso and Assemblyman Joe Coto, D-San Jose, who trounced the Log Cabin candidate by 39 points in 2004.
"We understand that it's an uphill battle in the elections," said Bissiri. "But they have the bully pulpits through the election."
However, some in the GOP vigorously oppose log cabin candidates. The writers of the hyper-conservative Free Republic Web site characterize the Log Cabin Republicans as "an [organization] shoving homosexual agendas on the GOP." For Patrosso's race in the AD 23, where he ran unopposed, Free Republic urged readers to either write in a candidate or not vote.
Mike Spence, president of the conservative California Republican Assembly, said that his group did not get involved in the races the Log Cabin candidates won. They only endorsed one, picking Sion's opponent, former police office Clark Baker, in the 42nd. However, he questioned whether someone could be both gay and conservative.
"I haven't met a social liberal who was a fiscal conservative yet," Spence said.
Sion, 43, described himself as a limited-government conservative who is very concerned about illegal immigration. On the all important gay-marriage question, he said that he supports "full and equal rights" for gays and lesbians, but is not necessarily worried about whether the word "marriage" is attached to these rights.
Denney, 52, largely echoed these positions. He's a former Democrat who said "the party left me" around 1976. While he also supports "full and equal" rights, he espouses a more incremental approach designed to avoid a backlash and address the thorny problem of Proposition 22, the 2000 initiative that stated, "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
"The attempt to pass gay marriage was a cynical attempt to embarrass a governor who, up until that point, had been recognized by Equality California and the Human Rights Campaign as the most gay-friendly governor in history," Denney said.
"To suggest that Dolores Huerta, Alice Huffman, the California Council of Churches, all of the civil rights groups, all the parents and children who supported the effort, and I are being cynical doesn't even merit a response," Leno replied. "What is cynical is Republicans running gay candidates specifically and only running in districts where they will not have a possibility of winning."
Leno added that he believes the LGBT Caucus to be a Democratic caucus--especially considering the complete lack of support among legislative Republicans on issues important to gay people.
No matter what happens in November, however, the Log Cabin Republicans say they are here to stay. The group ran 11 legislative candidates in 2004--both Denney and Green lost Senate GOP primaries. They won six nominations, though only one was a contested race. These wins, possibly because so many California districts are safe Democratic seats, have allowed the group to put together a growing roster of seats on state and county Republican Central Committees.
It is no coincidence that the relatively gay-friendly Schwarzenegger is the most successful Republican in recent California history, Bissiri said, even as he goes against the divisive politics that have served the GOP well elsewhere in the country.
"The Republican Party in California will be a permanent minority party if we adopt that model," Bissiri said.
I will never vote for a man that puts his hee-hee in another mans ha-ha.
They can't stay hidden forever. They'll come out(no pun intended) and when they do....see my tagline.
This is an object lesson in why liberal Republicans should never be supported by conservatives.
Exactly right. As well as to offer cover for the hordes of pro-GLBT legislation that was passed quietly at the same time, avoiding headlines.
So true.
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Wow. I got quoted. I knew if I stuck with you guys I'd go places. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1641600/posts?page=1#1
Any idiot can deduce this through the process of ELIMINATION!!!
Any plumber, with, or without a crack, can tell you that, right along with any electrician or physician that passed his/her Gray's Anatomy class!!!
What in the he!! is wrong with these idiots??? They haven't got a lick of sense!!!
ROFL! Congratulations (I think)!
If you folks are married or have kids, do you making any attempts to hide it? Do your coworkers know?
Should these folks simply present themselves as "single," dodge any questions about it?
If they weren't upfront, you'd say they were trying to put one over on you and if they are upfront you claim they're trying to shove it down your throat. Not particularly reasonable treatment, imho.
LOL
No, no, they will tell you fist before firsting you.
Umm, I mean...........
Oh, you know what I mean.
CA: Lots of gay Assembly candidates--on the GOP side
Does this refer to happy Assembly candidates or to Assembly candidates who choose to identify themselves in general by the homosexual activity they feel drawn toward and or choose to engage in? What will be seeing next -specific position identity claims; e.g. CA: Lots of ____________ (fill in blank) sexual position Assembly candidates--on the GOP side?
No, I wouldn't. I'd say it's a private matter that is no one's business.
If only they'd keep it private and no one's business.
And I thought we had problems in Idaho. How would you like to be a part of all that?
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