Four openly-gay members of Congress? HOGWASH, I tell you. IMPOSSIBLE! NOT GONNA HAPPEN! Bullhonkey. Never in a million years. No way, no how, not gonna happen. You're dreaming. Pie-in-the-sky, I tell ya. Get your head out of the clouds! Seriously, what is wrong with you? FOUR openly-gay members of Congress? You must be smoking something.
Or maybe not. And I'm not talking about David Dreier. It's a watershed year for Democrats all around, and more importantly it's a watershed year for LGBT candidates at all levels of our government. This year the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund hit a huge milestone as they endorsed one hundred openly-LGBT candidates for office in thirty-three states.
Barney Frank. Tammy Baldwin. Jared Polis. Linda Ketner.
Massachusetts. Wisconsin. Colorado. South Carolina.
South Carolina? Seriously?
Yes. Seriously. It might be tough, but LGBT candidates have one thing in common: they're all over-achievers. Join me below the fold as we look at some of the LGBT community's best and brightest.
Jared Polis, Colorado's 2nd Congressional District
Full disclosure: I met Jared at the LGBT Caucus at NetrootsNation YearlyKos 2007. As soon as he introduced himself as being a) openly gay, and b) running for Congress in Colorado, I silently scoffed. An openly gay Congressman from Colorado? Pffft. Yeah...sorry. I was wrong on that one.
For starters, I didn't know who Jared Polis was. He's the founder of online greeting card company Blue Mountain Arts, the founder of online florist ProFlowers, the founder of movie theater company Sonora Entertainment Group (which caters to the Spanish-speaking community by airing films that are either dubbed in Spanish or subtitled), and he's a pillar of Colorado's progressive community. The Jared Polis Foundation provides refurbished computer equipment to schools across Colorado. He's also the founder of the New America School, which provides educational opportunities for immigrants at three campuses in the Denver metro area.
More importantly, he's running for Congress in Colorado's 2nd District, and he's going to win. The district, centered in Colorado's liberal stronghold of Boulder, has a Cook PVI of +8. In 2006, Mark Udall (who's headed to the Senate!) won the district 67-30.
He's endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign, the SEIU, the Sierra Club, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the Humane Society Legislative Fund, People for the American Way, Colorado Stonewall Dems, and the Denver Post.
Linda Ketner, South Carolina's 1st Congressional District
South Carolina? Surely you jest.
Maybe not. Politico says the race is "competitive", and she's outspent the incumbent, Henry Brown. She's airing TV commercials left and right (mostly left...ahh liberal humor!) and with the right combination of a Democratic tsunami and the right GOTV strategy she just might win this thing. Meanwhile, Brown's getting help from the NRCC.
Linda Ketner's professional career has taken her all over the map. She's the daughter of the founder of the Food Lion grocery chain, and she used to be their Director of Organization Development. She also used to be a public school teacher. She teaches management skills workshops for nonprofits. She's taught classes at the College of Charleston. She founded her own consulting firm. She's on the board of the Hollings Cancer Center, the YWCA of the USA, and the Riley Public Policy Institute. She founded South Carolina Citizens for Housing, the Alliance for Full Acceptance, and the South Carolina Equality Coalition. She also makes a mean peach cobbler.
Okay, I made that last part up, but she's an amazing woman, and she might just pull this thing off.
Garnet Lewis, Michigan's 98th State House District
You've heard the old saying, "more and better Democrats." In 2006, Democrats flipped control of the Michigan House of Representatives and now hold a 58-52 majority. We've got more, and now it's time for better.
Garnet Lewis is a "better" Democrat. If Garnet is elected, she'll immediately go to work on the four E's: Education, (Alternative) Energy, the Economy, and 'Ealth Care Reform.
She's the founder of the Saginaw Area Democratic Club, and has run impressive GOTV campaigns in the Saginaw area. She's a card-carrying liberal, as a member of HRC, MoveOn, NOW, DFA, Emily's List, and the League of Women Voters. Professionally, she's the Associate Director for Professional Education in the College of Education at Central Michigan University. She previously held positions at Saginaw Valley State University, Tarleton University and the University of Texas at Arlington. She also did a stint for the State of Michigan in the Department of Rehabilitation Services.
Greg Kniffen, South Dakota's 12th State House District
They have gay people in South Dakota? Wow.
Okay, I guess they do. And one of them is running for the South Dakota House of Representatives. If he's elected, Greg Kniffen would be the first openly-gay elected official in South Dakota's history. The district he's running in is currently represented by a Democrat, and a Democratic tidal wave just might sweep him into office.
Greg Kniffen was educated at South Dakota State University, and is a geek for a living. He runs a computer programming and installation business based in Sioux Falls. He's also a member of the Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce and is the chair of the Minehaha County Forum, which teaches leadership skills to young people.
Greg is endorsed by Equality South Dakota and the South Dakota Educational Association.
Kathy Webb, Arkansas' 37th State House District
An open lesbian.
Who owns a dim sum restaurant.
And studied at the Kennedy School of Government.
Elected to the State House.
In ARKANSAS? That's crazy talk.
Maybe not. She's an incumbent. And she's running unopposed. Kathy Webb was first elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives from the 37th District (downtown Little Rock) in 2006.
Like most of the candidates on my list, Kathy Webb's experiences have taken her all over the map and all over the spectrum. Her business career started in DC, where she won Domino's Pizza's Manager of the Year award. She lived in Chicago for a while, and founded the Chicago affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research. At home in Little Rock, she's been honored as the Central Arkansas Library's Youth Services Volunteer of the Year, and her restaurant (Lilly's Dim Sum and Then Some) was named Restaurant Neighbor of the Year. She's also on the board of First United Methodist Church.
She's got massive Democratic street cred, too. She did six years as a member of the national board of NOW, she is a past board member of the Central Arkansas Planned Parenthood Action Board, past president of the Stonewall Dems of Arkansas, and she helped plan Bill Clinton's inaugural in 1997.
An out lesbian. Re-elected. In Arkansas.
Ed Butler, New Hampshire House of Representatives, 1st Carroll District
So we've made gains all over the map, and we're making more. Given enough time, we may get to a point where a candidate's sexual orientation is a non-issue (oh how wonderful that would be!). In the meantime, as we make gains in all sorts of unexpected places there's bound to be backlash.
Ed Butler is a target of that backlash.
First elected to the NH House of Representatives in 2006, Ed Butler was instrumental in passing New Hampshire's civil unions law. New Hampshire was the first state in the union to pass a gay partnership law legislatively, without any pressure from the courts. Two years later Republicans in New Hampshire have vowed to retake control of the state house, and they've vowed to take out Ed Butler.
If you're a fan of The West Wing like I am, you may remember the episode in which Jed Bartlett's staff anxiously awaits primary returns from Hart's Landing, New Hampshire. As the story goes, the town is so small that at midnight on election day, all the registered voters in town get together and cast their ballots. They are then a bellwether for the rest of the state, and given NH's designation as the first-in-the-nation primary, for the rest of the country.
Hart's Landing is real, but in real life it's called Hart's Location. Ed Butler is from Hart's Location, and he runs an inn called the Notchland Inn. He's also a former member of the Hart's Location Board of Selectmen, past treasurer of the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Emergency Management Coordinator for Hart's Location. He also spent fifteen years in nursing and has a Master's in Nursing Home Administration.
New Hampshire. Arkansas. Colorado. Michigan. South Carolina. South Dakota. Across our great nation, LGBT men and women are standing up and saying "We want to be a part of this, and we deserve it." From Congress all the way on down to the local board of selectmen, LGBT candidates are making their mark. This will be a watershed year for Democrats all around, and it's bound to be a watershed year for LGBT candidates, too.