NC-12: Black Gay Candidate Running For Congress

Marcus Brandon is currently the only openly gay legislator in North Carolina state Legislature. In fact, he is one of the very few Black LGBT people ever elected to state-level position in the United States. The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund just announced that Mr. Brandon has won their endorsement in the special election to fill the 12th Congressional District of North Carolina. Rep. Mel Watt held that seat for 20 years but is expected to resign soon to become the head of Fannie Mae. The NC-12 District is (in)famous because for years it was a subject if legislation under the Voting Rights Act because it was drawn to be a majority-minority district (it now has a slight plurality of white voters). It includes cities like Winston-Salem and Charlotte, as well as Mecklenburg County. It is considered a very safe Democratic seat (PVI D+23).

If Mr. Brandon were to win the Democratic primary and be elected, he would be only the second LGBT person of color elected to Congress, after Mark Takano was elected in California's 41st Congressional District in 2012.

BREAKING! U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud (ME-2) Comes Out As Gay

Mike Michaud is a Democratic congressman from Maine and candidate
for Governor.  He publicly confirmed he is gay on Monday November 4.

Mike Michaud is a 6-term Democratic Congressman representing the 2nd Congressional District of Maine who is also running for the Democratic Nomination for Governor of Maine (and has been the leading contender in most polls). In articles published on Monday Michaud revealed that he is gay.

Growing up in a large Franco-American Catholic family, it’s never been in my nature to talk about myself. I write this now merely to let my opponents and the outside interests who fund them know that I am not ashamed of who I am. And if seeing someone from my background, in my position, openly acknowledge the fact that he’s gay makes it a little bit easier for future generations to live their lives openly and without fear, all the better. 

I don’t plan to make my personal life or my opponents’ personal lives an issue in this campaign. We’ve had enough negativity in our politics and too many personal attacks over the last few years. We owe it to the people of Maine to focus on how we get our state back on track.

Michaud has a reputation as one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress, with a 10% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America and is a card-carrying member of the Blue Dog caucus in the U.S. House. Wow, a 58-year-old, openly gay, pro-life Democratic candidate for Governor of Maine.

Michaud's announcement means there are now 7 openly LGBT members of the U.S. House of Representatives, with Michaud having the most seniority.

It should be an interesting to watch how various political constituencies react to Michaud's announcement!

Hat/tip to Chris Geidner

Celebrity Friday: Marcus Brandon, Black Gay Congressional Candidate

Interesting news! Openly gay African American state Representative from North Carolina has taken out papers to run for Congressman Mel Watts U.S. House seat, NC-12.

Democratic State Rep. Marcus Brandon made his intentions to seek Congressman Mel Watt's 12th District seat official, according to Federal Election Commission documents made public this week. 

Watt is President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the Federal Housing Finance Administration. If confirmed, a Democratic frenzy is expected in the race to replace him. 

A campaign treasurer for Brandon, a High Point political consultant, filed papers May 1, the day the president announced Watt's appointment, to create the Marcus Brandon for Congress political committee, the first step needed to raise money for a potential bid.

If elected, Brandon would be the first ever openly gay Black Member of  Congress. Mark Takano became the first LGBT person of color elected to Congress last year. Brandon was elected to the North Carolina State House of Representatives in 2010.

Next Congress To Have 7 Out LGBT Members!

The 113th Congress of the United States will have a record seven people who are either lesbian, gay or bisexual. In the U.S. House there will be four newly elected Members who are LGB: Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18), Kyrsten Sinema )AZ-09), Mark Pocan (WI-05) and Mark Takano CA-41). In addition, there are 2 LGB incumbents who will be returning to the U.S. House: Jared Polis (CO-02) and David Cicilline (RI-01).

And in a dramatic first, lesbian Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (WI-05) gave up her congressional seat and ran (against former governor and Bush cabinet member Tommy Thompson) for the open U.S. Senate seat to represent Wisconsin. She not only became the first openly LGB person to be elected to the U.S. Senate but the 5th Congressional District of Wisconsin became the first congressional district in the United States to be represented by two different openly gay U.S. representatives (Baldwin and Pocan).

Two other important historic firsts will be achieved on January 3rd, 2013 when the new Congress is sworn in. Takano will be the first-ever openly LGBT person of color congressmember and Sinema will be the first-ever openly bisexual member of Congress, one of the youngest, at age 36, and one of the few who claims to be religiously unaffiliated.

The 6 openly LGB members of the U.S. House make up 1.4% of the 435-member body, which is still an under-representation of the 3.4% of Americans who are willing to tell a pollster that they are LGB or the 9% of Americans who are estimated to be LGB.

Baldwin will be 1 of 100 United States Senators, but in a body which allows a single member great latitude to wield disproportional power over federal legislation and public policy.

Victory Fund's 12 Races To Watch

The Victory Fund has put out a list of "12 races to watch" out of the 120 candidates that they have endorsed in state, local and federal elections throughout the country.

• Tammy Baldwin – U.S. Senate (Wisconsin) – Would be the first openly LGBT American in the U.S. Senate.
• Josh Boschee – North Dakota House of Representatives – Could become the first out member of the N.D. legislature.
• Kate Brown – Oregon Secretary of State – Second highest-ranking elected official in the state.
• David Cicilline – U.S. House (RI1) – Running for his first reelection to Congress in a tight race.
• Sean Patrick Maloney – U.S. House (NY18) – Would be the first openly LGBT member of Congress from N.Y.
• Marie Mayor – Delaware House – Could become the first out state legislator in Delaware.
• Tim Brown – Ohio House of Representatives – Tim would become the only openly LGBT Republican state lawmaker in the U.S.
• Kyrsten Sinema – U.S. House (AZ9) – Would become the first out bisexual elected to Congress.
• Stephen Skinner – West Virginia House of Representatives  – Could become the first openly LGBT state lawmaker in W.V.
• Andy Staton – Delaware Senate – Could become the first out state legislator in Delaware.
• Mark Takano – U.S. House (CA41) – Could become the first openly LGBT person of color in Congress.
• Richard Tisei – U.S. House (MA6) – Would become the first out Republican elected to Congress as a non-incumbent.

I pretty much agree with this list, and have been blogging about many of these same races, especially AZ-09, RI-01, MA-06, CA-41 and WI-SEN all year long, since the openly LGBT congressional candidates won their primaries. The most important to me is the Tammy Baldwin Senate race in Wisconsin, primarily because she is a great progressional candidate, and the simple power that an individual Senator can wield in that dysfunctional body. Happily, Tammy has had a clear lead in her race for weeks, has more cash on hand than her opponent, and she has never lost an election ever.

There are some races that I was unaware of, like the Kate Brown race for Secretary of State in Oregon. The number of openly LGBT people who have won statewide races is just more than a handful, so that would be another important milestone.

Of course, these candidate races are probably slightly less important than the specific ballot measure campaigns over marriage equality in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington.

RI-01: Gay Congressman Easily Wins Primary

Openly gay Congressman David Cicilline running for re-election for the first time easily survived a primary challenge from fellow Democrat Anthony Gemma which many people had expected the former openly gay mayor of  Providence, Rhode Island to lose. Cicilline received over 62% of the vote compared to 30% for the challenger.

Cicilline joins a slew of other openly LGBT candidates for Congress who have won party primaries this year: Mark Pocan (Wisconsin), Mark Takano (California), Richard Tisei (Massachusetts), and Krysten Sinema (Arizona). The only other openly LGBT incumbent besides Cicilline running for re-election isJared Polis from Colorado. Tisei is the only openly gay Republican running for Congress, the rest are Democrats. Sinema is the only self-identified bisexual, the others are identify as either gay or lesbian.

Tammy Baldwin is giving up her congressional seat to run for the United States Senate; that seat will likely be held by Mark Pocan.

Mark Pocan Will Be 8th Openly Gay U.S. Rep. Ever

Mark Pocan turned 48 years old yesterday, the same day he won the Democratic primary in the 2nd Congressional district of Wisconsin last night. Pocan will take the place of Tammy Baldwin who represented the college town of Madison and its environs for 14 years in Congress as the first (and only) openly lesbian member of Congress. Baldwin is giving up her seat to run for open Wisconsin U.S. Senate seat.

Pocan will become only the 8th person in history to serve in Congress as an openly LGBT member of that body when it convenes on January 3, 2013. Other (non-incumbent) openly LGBT candidates hoping to join the U.S. House of Representatives this cycle are Mark Takano (CA-41), Krysten Sinema (AZ-9), Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18), and Richard Tisei (MA-6). Incumbent U.S. Representatives David Cicilline (RI-1) and Jared Polis (CO-2) are running for re-election. Longtime incumbent Barney Frank (MA-05) is retiring.

Mark Takano May Become 1st LGBT POC U.S. Rep

Mark Takano, 50, is a serious contender to become
the first openly gay person of color elected to Congress

Mark Takano, a former school teacher who has been a longtime member of the Riverside County LGBT Asian Pacific Islander and Democratic Party communities, placed second in Tuesday's Top 2 primary election for California's 41st Congressional District, with 16,005 votes (36%) to Republican John Tavaglione's 19, 815 (45%). The Los Angeles Times describes the 41st District as having 42.3% Democratic registration and 34.9% Republican with 22.8% either Decline to State (Independent) or "Other." The 41st District is a new district drawn by the non-partisan redistricting commission and according to The Times is 6.5% Asian, 10.1% African-American, 55.9% Latino and 26.1% White. Twenty years ago, Takano lost a race to Republican Ken Calvert by 550 votes in the then-43rd Congressional district, the smallest margin in a Congressional race in the state's history.

Takano is endorsed by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and, if elected in November 2012, would become the first openly gay person of color elected to Congress.