News
Flanagan First Openly Gay Nominee For Senate
Frank Helps Raise Funds for VCU
CU Supporters, Opponents Defeated in Primaries
Flanagan First Openly Gay Nominee For Senate
HRC breaks tradition to endorse both candidates in one race
by Barbara Dozetos
 |
|
State auditor of accounts addressed the press and his supporters while waiting for the returns from primary voting September 12. photo: Barbara Dozetos |
For the first time in United States history, there is an openly gay major party nominee for United States Senate.
Vermont’s state auditor of accounts, Ed Flanagan, was the first, and remains the only, openly gay statewide elected official in the country. With his defeat of state senator Jan Backus in the Sept. 12 primary, he moves on to another first. He faces incumbent James Jeffords in the November 7 general election.
In yet another first, the Human Rights Campaign, the largest national lesbian and gay political organization in the country, announced a dual endorsement in the race. The bipartisan HRC has a history of supporting incumbents who have been supportive of issues the organization sees as important to the lesbian and gay community. Its support of both Jeffords and Flanagan came as a surprise to many.
Flanagan said he was elated at the HRC’s break with tradition. Jeffords said he was honored by the endorsement.
Jeffords has averaged a 96 percent rating on HRC’s Congressional ratings for the 101st through 105th Congresses. Flanagan, it said, expresses full support of the HRC legislative agenda, including issues of hate crimes, military, family, marriage, lesbian health, HIV/AIDS, and the Employment Non Discrimination Act,.
Key to the landmark dual endorsement decision, said HRC, was the viability of Flanagan’s candidacy. The challenger has a tough race ahead of him, a report from HRC said, but he has proven his ability to win the race through successful re-election to his current office and aggressive fundraising.
The endorsements mean that HRC’s political action committee will make $5000 contributions to each campaign and will highlight the records of both candidates to HRC’s membership in Vermont. There are no plans, they say, to send HRC staff to Vermont to campaign for either candidate.
Not as surprising were endorsements from the partisan National Stonewall Democrats and the Log Cabin Republicans, who are supporting Flanagan and Jeffords respectively.
 |
|
Democratic nominee for US Senate, Edward Flanagan (right) hugs his mother, Marty Flanagan while they wait with supporters for the results of the primary on September 12. photo: Barbara Dozetos |
The Democratic GLBT group didn’t comment on the dual HRC endorsement, but political director Daniel McGlinchey , said “We wouldn’t support a candidate from Vermont who didn’t strongly support gay relationships.” Jeffords voted in favor of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that was introduced by the Republican leadership to prohibit any federal recognition of marriage for same sex couples.
“Not only is Flanagan better on the issues,” said McGlinchey, “but if Jeffords wins, he’ll be part of a Republican effort to keep homophobic Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott in charge of the US Senate.” The Stonewall Democrats are asking members of their organization from neighboring states to come to Vermont to help with the Flanagan campaign when possible.
Log Cabin Republican executive director Rich Tafel criticized the HRC for its endorsement of Flanagan, calling the dual endorsement “no endorsement at all.” Jeffords, he said, is unrivaled amongst Republicans in what he has accomplished for the gay and lesbian community in the U.S. Senate.
“You cannot compare 26 years of service in Congress, and the caliber of leadership of Jim Jeffords,” said Tafel, “with the record of Ed Flanagan.” The LCR lists sponsorship of the Ryan White CARE Act, ENDA, and the Hate Crimes Statistics Act amongst the highlights of Jeffords’ record. Also noted is his “support of Vermont’s civil union law,” although the senator’s only public comments on the subject have been to express confidence in the Vermont Supreme Court and to say that the legislature did the best it could have done with a difficult situation. The Republican group has two staff members working in Vermont on the Jeffords campaign.
Jeffords made an endorsement of his own last month. After a week of indecision following the primary, he announced his support for all Republican candidates, not excluding the vocal anti-civil-union gubernatorial candidate Ruth Dwyer. Jeffords’ campaign press secretary Heidi Mohlman said that there are definitely no plans for any active campaigning on Dwyer’s behalf by the Senator. “He will be supporting all GOP candidates, just as they support him,” she said.
Flanagan said the Dwyer endorsement marks a significant difference between he and Jeffords. “I deeply regret that he stepped out in support of Ruth Dwyer,” said Flanagan. “I was hoping he would exercise his considerable leadership and repudiate her bigoted candidacy and exploitation of the very evil undercurrent she is encouraging.”