Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-09-06
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Some surprises in LGBT races
News update Wed., Nov. 3, 2010
by Lisa Keen, Keen News Service
2010-11-03

This article shared 4418 times since Wed Nov 3, 2010
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email


The results for some high-profile openly gay candidates is often mixed, and they were Nov. 2—with nine of 18 openly LGBT candidates winning. But there was one big surprise and one shining star and, overall, the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund reported that 106 of the 164 openly gay candidates won their races.

The big surprise came in Lexington, Ky., where openly gay construction company executive Jim Gray won his mayoral race. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported the news shortly after the polls closed at 6 p.m. Gray has been serving as the city's vice mayor and defeated incumbent mayor Jim Newberry. The paper said the campaign has been one of the most expensive in the city's history and only the second time in history that a sitting mayor has been defeated. The ballot in Lexington does not indicate party affiliation. According to results published by the Herald-Leader, Gray won with 53 percent of the vote, to Mayor Jim Newberry's 46 percent. The Herald-Leader noted that Gray lost a bid for mayor in 2002, when his sexual orientation was not public. Gray came out before running successfully for an at-large seat on the Urban County Council.

In another southern state, North Carolina, openly gay candidate Marcus Brandon of High Point won his first-ever run for state representative and, in doing so, becomes the state's first openly gay legislator in the state. According to the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, Brandon also becomes only the fifth openly gay African American to a state legislature anywhere in the country. The race was to represent North Carolina's District 60, which encompasses Guilford County in the middle of the state. Brandon told the News-Record newspaper of Greensboro that his sexual orientation was not a secret but that " [ t ] his is not something I wanted to take over my campaign."

"Nobody in a year-and-a-half ever asked me about my sexuality," Brandon said, in an October 15 blog by an editorial writer in which the paper noted his race was one of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund's "Ten Races to Watch" this year.

Laurie Jinkins has won her bid to the Washington state House, and becomes its first openly lesbian state lawmaker. Another lesbian, Nickie Antonio, won an unopposed race for the Ohio state house, making her that state's first openly gay state legislator.

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank won re-election to a 16th term as Massachusetts Congressman from the 4th District. Frank won against an aggressive Republican challenger, Sean Bielat, who had a surge of out-of-state funding in the final days of the campaign to fuel a flood of campaign literature and robo-calls. While Frank's re-election was considered predictable, the margin of victory represents a significant drop in support for Frank. Frank garnered only 54 percent of the vote, dropping well below his previous lowest re-election take of 68 percent in 2008. The returns almost guarantee an even tougher rematch against Bielat in 2012.

U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., won re-election to a seventh term with 62 percent of the vote, down just a few points from her previous re-election margin. U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., won a second term with 56 percent of the vote.

Providence, R.I.'s, openly gay mayor, David Cicilline, won his bid to represent the 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House. The win will make him the fourth openly gay member of the Congress. With all precincts counted, Cicilline had secured 50.6 percent of the vote, compared to Republican John Loughlin's 44.5 percent and 4.9 percent for two other candidates.

In Connecticut, openly gay healthcare advocate Kevin Lembo won his race for the state comptroller's seat. The win makes Lembo the only openly gay candidates to win a statewide race Nov. 2.

And Victoria Kolakowski appears to have won election as a judge on the Superior Court of Alameda County, Calif., becoming the first transgender trial court judge in the country.

But there were losses, too.

Two openly gay candidates lost their bids for seats in the U.S. House. Democrat Ed Potosnak, a teacher and businessman, lost his bid to unseat Republican incumbent Leonard Lance in New Jersey's 7th Congressional district. Potosnak had been given very little chance of winning in his first run, but still pulled in 40 percent of the vote. And Steve Poughnet, the openly gay mayor of Palm Springs, California, garnered 40 percent in his first run for Congress against incumbent Republican Mary Bono Mack.

Two openly gay candidates for lieutenant governor lost as the head of their tickets fell to defeat. Steve Howard lost as the number two person on the Democratic ticket in Vermont. And Richard Tisei lost as part of the Republican ticket in Massachusetts, where incumbent Democratic governor Deval Patrick won re-election with 49 percent of the race, against Republican Charlie Baker's 42 percent, and Independent Tim Cahill's 8.

And openly gay Republican Ken Rosen appears to have lost his bid to represent Michigan's 26th District in the state house. At 11:23 Tuesday night, early results showed Rosen with 44 percent of the vote, trailing Democrat Jim Townsend who has 53 percent.

©2010 Keen News Service


This article shared 4418 times since Wed Nov 3, 2010
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

NATIONAL Lesbian politician, Nancy Pelosi, bomb threat, politician dies, Lyft 2023-09-15
- Kathy Kozachenko—the first out politician elected to public office in the country—will be honored with a statue on the 50th anniversary of her historic election, per The Advocate. The city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, will honor ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Historic political win, Columbus situation, trans coach, Gold + Williams 2023-09-08
- Fabian Nelson won a Democratic primary runoff in Mississippi's 66th state House district—and he's now the state's first openly gay legislator, The Guardian noted. (Republicans are not running a candidate for the general election sched ...


Gay News

WORLD Argentinian elections, indian prince, UN, Gay Games 2023-08-25
- The results of Argentina's Aug. 13 primary elections revealed a political landscape that combines significant advances in LGBTQI+ rights with the expansion of the far-right in that country, The Washington ...


Gay News

WORLD Turkish president, former congressman dies, Polish case, Uganda, sports 2023-05-12
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan again attacked the country's LGBTQ+ community in a bid to rally his conservative voters before the May 14 election, france24.com noted. Polls showed Erdogan—whose campaign is dealing with an economic crisis ...


Gay News

President Biden announces re-election run 2023-04-25
- U.S. President Joe Biden has announced his re-election run. In doing so, he is teaming the veteran advisers who helped him win the White House once with a newer generation of diverse leadership for his 2024 ...


Gay News

Record number of LGBTQ+ candidates elected to Chicago City Council; LGBTQ+ representation increases from seven to nine 2023-04-05
--From a press release - Washington, DC — Tonight three LGBTQ+ Chicago City Council candidates won runoff elections: Timmy Knudsen, Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth and Lamont Robinson all three of whom Victory Fund endorsed. Manaa-Hoppenworth is now ...


Gay News

Knudsen looks ahead to April 4 runoff election 2023-03-30
- The following is part of Windy City Times' coverage of openly LGBTQ+ candidates in the 2023 municipal election. Ald. Timmy Knudsen narrowly came in first in the Feb. 28 general election, and is facing Brian Comer ...


Gay News

ELECTIONS 2023: Rep. Lamont Robinson discusses LGBTQ+ issues and his plans for the 4th Ward 2023-03-27
- The following is part of Windy City Times' series of interviews with LGBTQ+ candidates in the 2023 Chicago municipal elections. Among the 14 aldermanic races to be decided in the runoff election on April 4, Illinois ...


Gay News

More than thirty-five LGBTQ+ leaders endorse Brandon Johnson for mayor of Chicago 2023-03-22
--From a press release - CHICAGO, IL — More than thirty-five LGBTQ+ community leaders are united in their support for Brandon Johnson for Mayor in Chicago's runoff election, representing the city's business, philanthropic, academic, civic ...


Gay News

ELECTIONS 2023: 48th Ward candidate Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth speaks about her run-off race 2023-03-15
- Note: The following interview is part of Windy City Times' ongoing coverage of LGBTQ+ candidates in the 2023 Chicago municipal elections. The run-off election takes place Tuesday, April 4. Following the Feb. 28 primary election—where 10 ...


Gay News

Mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson endorses 48th Ward alderperson candidate Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth 2023-03-14
--From a press release - CHICAGO, IL — Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth, community organizer and progressive advocate, earned the endorsement of Chicago Mayoral Candidate Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson. Since the February 28th runoff election, Manaa-Hoppenworth has ...


Gay News

Lightfoot concedes but other LGBTQ+ candidates make inroads 2023-02-28
- Incumbent Lori Lightfoot, the city's first Black lesbian mayor, conceded defeat the evening of Feb. 28, after a tumultuous term and a difficult election season, where she competed against eight challengers for her post. "I stand ...


Gay News

Elections 2023: Timmy Knudsen discusses run for office and last-minute appointment 2023-02-28
- This is part of a series of interviews Windy City Times is running on LGBTQ+ candidates in the 2023 municipal elections taking place Feb. 28 Attorney Timmy Knudsen was appointed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot this past ...


Gay News

Elections 2023: Rosanna Rodriguez Sanchez vies for second term representing the 33rd Ward 2023-02-28
- This is part of a series of interviews Windy City Times is running on LGBTQ+ candidates in the 2023 municipal elections taking place Feb. 28. Youth educator and activist Rosanna Rodriguez Sanchez is seeking her second ...


Gay News

Elections 2023: Sam Schoenburg discusses hopes for police council role 2023-02-27
- This is part of a series of interviews Windy City Times is running on LGBTQ+ candidates in the 2023 municipal elections taking place Feb. 28. Attorney and activist Sam Schoenburg, who is gay, is among the ...


 


Copyright © 2023 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives. Single copies of back issues in print form are
available for $4 per issue, older than one month for $6 if available,
by check to the mailing address listed below.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.
All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transegender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS






Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.