On Saturday, there is going to be a run-off election for Dallas mayor. According to the Dallas Morning News, Tom Leppert and Ed Oakley are neck and neck. Whichever one motivates his base the most and gets the voters to the polls will be the winner(duh).
The thing is, Oakley is gay and if he wins, he'll be the first gay mayor of a major American city. A gay mayor. In Texas. Imagine.
The current mayor, Laura Miller, is a Democrat, as is Oakley. The mayoral race is non-partisan (wink, wink) but, oh so surprisingly, Oakley appeals to the liberal Democrats and Leppert appeals more to the conservative Republicans. If Oakley can get the Dems out, the seat is his.
Voters in Dallas are a funny bunch and there's no way to really predict what will happen here, but the fact that Oakley has managed to get where he is says a lot about the city. The Stonewall Democrats are the largest Democratic group in Texas and, naturally, they've put their weight behind Oakley.
Electing a gay mayor is not a good idea just because he's gay and his election will bring some cachet to the city. It's a good idea for the city because it's time underrepresented folks in Texas have a leader they can look up to and admire. I don't live in Dallas but I see this election as a breath of fresh air. My hope is that if Ed can get elected, the tide might turn in other, tougher Republican strongholds and Democrats will feel more confident about coming out to vote. Oakley has experience and he seems to be a personable, intelligent guy.
Each election that leads into 2008 in which Democrats have strength and success is one more nail in the Republican presidential coffin.