|
The
Gay
and
Lesbian
Victory
Fund,
the
nation’s
largest
GLBT
political
action
committee,
formally
endorsed
Mark
LaFontaine
for
State
Representative
in
District
92,
LaFontain
announce
last
week.
LaFontaine
is
facing
Gwyndolen
Clarke-Reed
and
Scott
Newton,
mayor
of
Wilton
Manors,
for
the
district
seat.
He
gathered
694
petition
signatures
from
throughout
the
distirict,
almost
80
more
than
required
to
qualify
for
the
Aug.
26
primary
election.
Because
there
is
no
Republican
running,
the
seat
will
be
determined
on
the
primary
election
day,
although
the
winner
won’t
begin
serving
until
2009.
If
elected,
LaFontaine
will
be
the
first
openly
gay
official
elected
to
the
Florida
Legislature.
He
is
a
veteran
of
the
US
Coast
Guard
and
spent
most
of
his
youth
involved
in
Boy
Scouts,
eventually
rising
to
the
rank
of
Eagle
Scout.
He
was
later
instrumental
in
opposing
Boy
Scout
policies
that
discriminated
against
gay
boy
scouts
or
scout
masters.
The
Victory
Fund
is
dedicated
to
increasing
the
number
of
openly
GLBT
elected
official
at
all
levels
of
government.
Each
year
the
organization
endorses
dozens
of
gay,
lesbian
and
transgender
candidates.
The
organization
had
previously
withheld
endorsing
anyone
in
the
District
92
race
because
another
gay
candidate,
Gary
Resnick,
was
also
running
for
the
same
position.
Resnick
dropped
out
of
the
race
recently
to
run
for
Mayor
in
Wilton
Manors.
According
to
Victory
Fund
bylaws,
the
organization
remains
neutral
when
more
than
one
gay
candidate
is
running
for
a
given
seat.
However,
the
fund
does
not
automatically
endorse
all
gay
candidates.
According
to
Dennis
Dison,
the
organization’s
communications
director,
candidates
are
thoroughly
screened
and
vetted
to
determine
whether
they
have
a
realistic
chance
of
being
a
strong
contender.
To
qualify,
GLBT
candidates
must
fill
out
at
least
two
very
detailed
applications.
Many
don’t
make
it
through
the
process.
LaFontaine
said
he
was
happy
to
accept
the
Victory
Fund
endorsement.
He
is
being
supported
by
the
Dolphin
Democrats,
Rep.
Kelly
Skidmore
(D.
Boca
Raton),
and
famed
Congressman
Barney
Frank.
“I
am
please
to
accept
the
endorsement
of
the
Victory
Fund,
because
their
track
record
of
supporting
winning
candidates
underscores
the
momentum
my
campaign
has
achieved,”
LaFontaine
said.
“Florida
has
never
elected
an
openly
GLBT
representative
to
Tallahassee
and
this
endorsement,
plus
our
strong
petition
drive
brings
us
one
step
closer
to
making
history.”
Rep.
Jack
Seiler
currently
holds
the
office,
but
due
to
term
limits
he
is
running
for
mayor
of
Fort
Lauderdale.
The
district
stretches
along
the
east
side
of
Broward
County
from
parts
Fort
Lauderdale
to
Boca
Raton
including
communities
of
Wilton
Manors,
Oakland
Park,
Deerfield
Beach,
North
Lauderdale,
Lazy
Lake,
Poinsettia
Heights,
Tamarac
and
Pompano
Beach.
According
to
US
Census
there
are
nearly
135,000
people
who
live
in
the
district.
It
has
a
strong
Democratic
Party
voting
base,
with
53.3
percent
of
registered
voters
voting
Democrat.
 |
 |
| The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by floridablade.com. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed. |
|
|
