As a born and bred Southerner, I am absolutely astounded that a woman is in the runoff for the Republican nomination for governor in my current home state of South Carolina. In the land of good-ol’-white-boys running the show, to see Nikki Haley come this close to the highest state office is breathtaking. What’s truly amazing however, is that Haley is the child of Indian immigrants and was raised as a Sikh before converting to Christianity. She has served in the state legislature for three years, so this woman knows how to win elections, but still — poised to take over the governor’s mansion in South Carolina? Wonders never cease.
Apparently, I have underestimated the voters in this state, but, that’s not the only thing that amazed me about Tuesday’s primaries. Around the country some other unlikely candidates have advanced to November’s election — all of them are members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.
Steve Pougnet the openly gay mayor of Palm Springs, will face Republican Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack in California’s 45 Congressional District race. Bono angered the gay and lesbian community when she voted against a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, even though Bono argued that her concern was Congress would undermine the military’s study process by passing the measure.
In other California races three candidates, Victory Fund reports that “Toni Atkins (Dist 76), Rich Gordon (Dist 21) and Ricardo Lara (Dist 50) won their Democratic primaries in overwhelmingly Democratic Assembly districts.” The race for Sonoma County District Attorney went to Jill Ravitch who will “become the state’s second openly lesbian District Attorney, joining San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, a Republican who is unopposed in her reelection bid.”
Perhaps the most surprising advancement came from Victoria Kolakowski, a transgender lawyer who has made it to the general election in her bid to become a Superior Court Judge in Alameda County, California.
On her campaign website she’s very open about being transgender and notes in her bio that she is “married to Cynthia Laird, the news editor of the Bay Area Reporter newspaper.” She and Laird married “on February 12, 2004 on the first day of the San Francisco same-sex marriages.”
But, that’s liberal California, so really, no one should be that surprised that LGBT candidates are making progress. However, that’s not the end of the story. In mostly conservative Montana, young gay rights activist Bryce Bennett has made it to the November ballot for a state legislative seat and may very likely win his very democratic district.
In Maine, we find one race with some religious overtones. Jill Barkley defeated her challenger Mohammed Dini, a Somalian refugee and Muslim, with 63% of the vote. Both candidates are also relatively young. Barkley is 29, Dini 25, but age didn’t seem to matter in this progressive and ethnically diverse district. The difference between the two mainly boiled down to the issue of gay marriage. Barkley supports it but Dini, because of his religion he says, does not: “While he supports traditional marriage because he is a Muslim, he said, his personal views wouldn’t affect his votes in the Legislature. He said same-sex marriage is an issue for voters to decide, not legislators.”
So, while gay and lesbian candidates of all stripes seem to be able to win elections, even outside of California and in more conservative places like Montana, a Muslim continues to remain at a distinct disadvantage in politics. Perhaps that will be the next big surprise in elections — Muslims who can win races. Though I get the feeling it will be a long time before they win one in the South.
