By EARTHA JANE MELZER
Friday, November 11, 2005
Gay groups across the political spectrum celebrated the results of Virginia’s Nov. 8 election. With the defeat of Republican gubernatorial candidate Jerry Kilgore, and three staunchly anti-gay candidates for the House of Delegates, many say they sense the beginning of the end of agenda-setting by social conservatives in Virginia politics.
Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, solidly defeated Republican Jerry Kilgore 52 to 46 percent. Both candidates oppose gay marriage and civil unions, but Kaine backs workplace protection for gays and opposed the Marriage Affirmation Act, one of the country’s most strident laws stripping gay couples of legal protections.
“Jerry Kilgore ran a campaign that included gay bashing, immigrant bashing, and bashing Tim Kaine for his religious beliefs as a Catholic,” said Josh Israel, president of the Virginia Partisans Gay & Lesbian Democratic Club. “His defeat is a sign that the politics of division are not the way to go.”
The race for lieutenant governor between Republican W.T. Bolling and Democrat L.L. Byrne was narrowly won by Bolling (50 to 49 percent) and the battle for attorney general between Democrat R. Creigh Deeds and Republican Robert McDonnell was so close a recount was planned. In both races, the GOP candidates were social conservatives and the Democrats relatively moderate on gay issues.
“The Republicans are reeling,” Israel said.
Republicans suffered set backs across the board. Kaine won by a larger majority than Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat whose broad popularity was the most significant factor in the race, and also won in outer D.C. suburbs like Loudoun, Prince William, Lynchburg and Virginia Beach, Israel said.
During the campaign, the Kilgore campaign ran ads saying that Kaine supported gay adoption. Kaine’s position is that the current law — which says the best interest of the child is the primary consideration, and allows single people and married couples to adopt — strikes the right balance, of the Kaine campaign.
As state attorney general, Kilgore said the Fairfax School Board did not have the authority to include sexual orientation discrimination in its non-discrimination policy.
But Kilgore’s supporters said it was Kaine’s campaign that engaged in “gay-baiting,” running a radio ad called “Weak” that suggested Kilgore is “too weak to lead Virginia” and says, “Jerry Kilgore is not being straight.”
This ad came on the heels of an anti-Kilgore Web site www.jerrytheduck.com that encouraged visitors to listen to an audio clip and “hear Jerry quack.” Some believe that this is an attempt to draw attention to Kilgore’s voice, which was described as “gay-sounding.”
A highly publicized discussion of whether Kaine is making fun of Kilgore’s rural accent, is actually about whether Kaine is making fun of Kilgore’s effeminate voice, Kilgore backers claimed.
An election eve appearance by President Bush seems not to have energized voters for Kilgore and may have instead motivated Kaine’s supporters.
Israel said that for the last three years, Kilgore has been the single biggest obstacle to gay and lesbian equality in Virginia.
All 13 incumbents who voted against the state marriage amendment preserved their positions, Israel said, and the delegates race in the 67th District between Democrat Chuck Caputo and Republican Chris Craddock was not nearly as tight as expected, with Caputo winning 59 to 41 percent.
In the 32nd District, Democrat Dave Poisson defeated Del. Dick Black (R-Loudoun), 53 to 47 percent.
“Dick Black was the poster boy for their extremist positions, the fact the he was handily defeated may be a sign that the far right has peaked in its ability to set the agenda in Virginia,’” said Dave Lampo, president of the Virginia Log Cabin Republicans. “The fact that Craddock and Marrs were also defeated proved it was not a fluke.”
Lampo said that he believes that the election outcome reflects Virginian’s disgust with conservative lawmakers’ obsession with homosexuality, and that he hopes that moderates in the Republican Party will now feel free to begin to assert themselves more, “and take the party back from the Family Foundation types.”
Though many commentators have said that the Republican losses in Virginia are tied to voters’ disappointments with Republicans on the national level, Lampo said that he feels that Black, Marrs and Craddock lost because of the, “quacky extremist positions they espouse,” and that, “national issues played a marginal role if any.”
During their campaigns each of these three candidates attempted to smear their opponents by gay-baiting. Republican Chris Craddock falsely claimed that his opponent Gary Reese had been endorsed by the Blade, and then stated that Christians and gays despise one another. Brad Marrs attempted to taint Katherine Waddell for accepting a campaign contribution from a gay man. Black distributed a letter accusing Poisson of supporting homoerotic school plays.
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Democrat David Poisson defeated Del. Dick Black (R-Loudoun) in the 32nd District. Black (right) is pictured with Robert Knight, director of the Culture & Family Institute, during a debate last year on Black’s bill to ban adoptions by gay Virginians. (Photo by Steve Helber/AP) |
“As disappointed as I am that the socially moderate candidates lost, I think this is going to mean that the Republican Party can come back stronger,” Lampo said.
In a very solidly Republican district, Del. Bob Marshall (R-Loudoun), sponsor of the Marriage Affirmation Act, which bans legal recognition of same-sex relationships, received 55 percent of the vote.
In local races, Dana Lawhorne, the Partisans endorsed candidate for Alexandria Sheriff won. Ed Fendley, the Partisans endorsed candidate for Arlington School Board was also successful.
In Norfolk, Vivian Paige, whose race was marred by allegations of dirty tricks, fell short in her bid to be the city’s treasurer. After a NAACP-sponsored candidates forum in Norfolk last month, fliers calling attention to her sexual orientation were placed on cars.
The flier purported to be an endorsement from the Virginia Partisans Gay & Lesbian Democratic Club, and to have been authorized by the Concerned Citizens for Political Education. It featured a photo of Democratic candidate Vivian Paige with a caption that read, “Yes, I’m lesbian and I’m proud! It really doesn’t matter what people think, it’s my life.”
Paige, a Democrat, was endorsed by Virginia Partisans and the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, but the fliers were not affiliated with her campaign. She finished the race with 31 percent of the votes, while Thomas Moss, an independent who was the former speaker of the Virginia House, collected 45 percent. Independent Sherry White Battle finished third, with 15 percent, while Republican John Wesley Hill finished fourth, with 9 percent.
Dyana Mason, executive director of Equality Virginia, said that she was pleased that 24 of the 28 candidates endorsed by that organization’s political action committee were successful.
Mason said the EVPAC contacted 60,000 voters and operated nine get-out-the-vote telephone banks in the districts of gay rights opponents Dick Black (R-Loudoun), Chris Craddock, and Brad Marrs (R-Chesterfield). The first two lost their races and Marrs trails in a very close race.
“We were smart and strategic in sending a message to some of our harshest opponents,” Mason said. “I think they recognize that it is probably not a wise idea to focus solely on the social issues.”
Although gay rights supporters have picked up a couple of seats, Mason said that she expects the next legislative session to include challenges to gay rights, including consideration of a state marriage amendment and action on some sort of adoption bill.
Alexandria’s Adam Ebbin, the first-ever openly gay delegate in the Virginia state legislature, ran unopposed and was reelected.
During this election cycle, Ebbin contributed more than $73,000 from his campaign and leadership PAC accounts in this cycle to Democratic organizations and candidates in Virginia, with most of the money going into House of Delegates races.
Ebbin said that he believes the tone in the General Assembly will certainly improve now that a few extreme politicians have been replaced with mainstream moderates.
The election results show that, “the politics of hate are not working in Virginia, should stop and think before demonizing people because they are immigrants or gay,” Ebbin said. He added that the winning candidates focused on the issues that affect daily lives of the larger electorate.
“We have demonstrated in Virginia that sensible mainstream moderate investment and talking directly to the voters about what matters to them can overpower mean-spirited divisive tactics,” Ebbin said. “It seems that this election marks the first time there has been a significant financial contribution downside for anti-gay legislators.
Virginia politicians may now begin to think more carefully about whether to pass a marriage amendment or other anti-gay measures, Ebbin said, and the impact could reach outside the state.
“Republicans in other states will realize that there is a risk to beating up on minorities for political gain, and Mark Warner will be taken more seriously as a presidential candidate” Ebbin said.
+ Had fun at the 3rd annual Thanks Keg N Fest.
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