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LOU CHIBBARO JR
Friday, September 05, 2008
D.C.
Council
members
Carol
Schwartz
(R-At-Large)
and
Jack
Evans
(D-Ward),
who
have
strong
records
of
support
for
the
gay
community,
are
facing
their
strongest
opposition
ever
in
the
city’s
Sept.
9
primary,
and
the
local
gay
Republican
and
gay
Democratic
groups
are
urging
their
members
and
supporters
to
go
to
bat
for
the
two
veteran
Council
members.
Officials
with
the
Gertrude
Stein
Democratic
Club
and
Log
Cabin
Republicans
of
D.C.
have
reiterated
their
longstanding
assessment
that
nearly
all
candidates
running
for
public
office
in
the
District
who
have
any
chance
of
getting
elected
have
good-to-excellent
positions
and
records
on
both
gay
and
transgender
related
issues.
Mario
Acosta-Velez,
president
of
the
Stein
Club,
has
joined
other
local
activists
in
noting
that
gays
in
D.C.,
in
marked
contrast
to
other
parts
of
the
country,
have
had
an
embarrassment
of
riches
concerning
the
degree
of
strong
support
on
gay
and
transgender
issues
from
Washington’s
local
elected
officials.
While
this
has
ensured
that
the
local
city
government
—
from
the
mayor
to
the
Council
—
has
been
friendly
to
the
gay
and
trans
communities,
local
activists
say
they
sometimes
find
themselves
in
the
awkward
position
of
having
to
choose
among
friends
when
pro-gay
candidates
run
against
each
other.
In
the
case
of
Evans,
who
represents
neighborhoods
with
a
high
concentration
of
gay
residents,
such
as
Dupont
Circle
and
Logan
Circle,
the
Stein
Club
voted
to
give
its
endorsement
to
Evans,
even
though
his
challenger,
attorney
and
community
activist
Cary
Silverman,
has
backed
gay
rights
related
efforts
and
supports
virtually
all
of
the
Stein
Club’s
positions
related
to
gay
rights
and
AIDS.
“We
appreciate
the
fact
that
so
many
of
the
candidates
are
good
on
our
issues,
but
in
the
case
of
Jack
Evans,
the
matter
was
simple
because
he
has
been
a
strong
ally
of
this
community
for
so
many
years,”
Acosta-Velez
said
after
one
of
the
club’s
endorsement
meetings
earlier
this
year.
Schwartz,
who
has
received
strong
support
from
gay
voters
in
past
elections,
faces
a
far
different
situation
from
Evans,
who
is
running
against
Silverman
in
the
city’s
Democratic
primary.
She
is
competing
against
challenger
Patrick
Mara
in
the
city’s
Republican
primary,
where
her
fate
will
be
decided
by
Republican
voters,
who
make
up
just
7
percent
of
the
city’s
registered
voters.
In
the
past,
Schwartz
faced
little
or
no
serious
opposition
in
Republican
primaries.
She
then
relied
upon
crossover
Democratic
voters,
many
of
whom
were
gay
voters,
to
help
her
win
in
the
November
general
elections.
Log
Cabin
Republicans
of
D.C.
and
the
D.C.
Republican
Committee,
which
has
a
number
of
gay
GOP
members,
have
endorsed
Schwartz.
But
Mara,
a
political
newcomer,
has
received
the
endorsement
of
a
number
of
influential
business
groups
who
have
criticized
Schwartz
for
backing
what
they
say
are
anti-business
measures.
Schwartz
disputes
those
claims,
saying
she
has
long
been
a
fiscal
conservative
who
has
helped
reign
in
what
she
calls
the
city’s
tendency
to
overspend
and
overtax
its
residents.
Schwartz
faced
a
setback
on
Wednesday
when
the
Washington
Post
endorsed
Mara,
a
development
that
startled
some
political
observers.
Post
endorsements
often
have
influenced
voters
in
close
races,
according
to
local
political
observers.
Local
activists
took
notice
this
week
when
longtime
gay
Democratic
activist
Peter
Rosenstein,
who
worked
on
Mayor
Adrian
Fenty’s
campaign,
endorsed
Silverman
over
Evans.
But
Evans
has
received
the
endorsement
of
most
of
the
city’s
gay
Democratic
leaders,
along
with
gays
involved
in
Ward
2
civic
associations
and
neighborhood
groups.
“Mr.
Silverman
likes
to
claim
he
has
the
support
of
people
in
the
neighborhoods,
but
I
can
tell
you
that
Jack
Evans
has
far
more
support
in
the
neighborhoods,”
said
Alexander
Padro,
a
gay
Advisory
Neighborhood
Commissioner.
Gay
candidate
faces
uphill
race
In
other
races
in
the
Sept.
9
primary,
longtime
gay
Democratic
activist
Phil
Pannell
is
challenging
incumbent
Paul
Strauss
in
the
city-wide
race
for
shadow
senator.
Pannell
has
attracted
support
from
gay
and
civic
activists
who
believe
Strauss
and
other
city
officials
haven’t
been
aggressive
enough
in
pushing
for
congressional
voting
rights
for
the
city.
Local
gay
groups
have
noted
that
Congress
on
several
occasions
has
stepped
in
to
overturn
or
block
gay-related
bills
passed
by
the
D.C.
Council.
The
Stein
Club
and
the
Gay
&
Lesbian
Activists
Alliance
have
said
they
give
high
priority
to
the
city’s
voting
rights
efforts,
in
part
because
gays
have
been
the
target
of
anti-gay
lawmakers
in
Congress.
Strauss
disputes
Pannell’s
charge
that
he
hasn’t
been
aggressive
enough
in
pushing
for
D.C.
voting
representation,
saying
he
regularly
lobbies
Congress
for
a
pending
bill
that
would
give
Del.
Eleanor
Holmes
Norton
(D-D.C.)
the
right
to
vote
on
the
House
floor.
Campaign
filing
reports
show
that
Strauss
has
raised
far
more
money
than
Pannell
for
his
campaign,
with
Strauss
campaign
posters
appearing
throughout
the
city.
Pannell
had
yet
to
distribute
campaign
signs
in
most
parts
of
the
city
as
of
late
this
week.
The
city’s
two
shadow
senators
and
one
shadow
representative
have
no
congressional
powers
and
don’t
receive
a
salary.
Their
sole
function
is
to
advocate
for
statehood
or
voting
representation
in
Congress
for
the
District
of
Columbia.
Norton
is
running
unopposed
in
the
Democratic
primary
next
week
and
has
received
strong
support
from
gay
groups,
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