06/18/2007
Gay Candidate Ed Oakley Loses Dallas Mayoral Bid
In the Dallas run-off election for mayor on Saturday, Tom Leppert took 58 percent of the vote to Ed Oakley's 42 percent. A win for Oakley would have made him the first openly gay mayor of a major U.S. city.
The Dallas Morning News reports: "During the runoff, Mr. Oakley sought to portray Mr. Leppert as an unscrupulous corporate baron in a series of campaign commercials and mailers. But the charges barely affected voters' image of Mr. Leppert as a God-fearing family man reared without privilege by a loving single mother."
Oakley conceded while holding back tears, according to the paper (video): "I told Tom he won a great race. Tom will be a good leader. There are nine other people who would have loved to have a chance to do a runoff. I have enjoyed immensely the Dallas City Council," Mr. Oakley continued. "We really have set the city on a path to greatness. I truly, truly have enjoyed the ride."
Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which assisted Oakley's campaign, praised the candidate: "They say 'close' doesn't count in politics, but Ed Oakley's historic campaign may have changed politics forever. That an openly gay man was a serious contender to become mayor of one the largest cities in America is a testament to the fair-mindedness of this country, and a wake-up call for the political establishment. Ed ran neck and neck with a self-funded opponent, but he never ran away from the truth about his sexual orientation. We are enormously proud of Ed and his campaign team, and grateful to our donors who believed in this campaign from its inception."
Sphere: Related ContentPosted 8:29 AM EST by Andy in Dallas, Ed Oakley, News, Texas | Permalink
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I live in Dallas and this wasn't a close race. Chuck Wolfe needs a new pair of glasses if he believes this was a "neck and neck" race...Oakley never had a chance, and not because he's gay, but because he never referenced his own skills in his ad's. Instead he attacked his opponent with nasty and malicious ad's trying to portray him as a racist and a bully. Leppert on the other hand (and I did vote for Oakley) never attacked Oakley and stood solid. There was never any doubt that he would win the race.
Posted by: Wayne | Jun 18, 2007 8:42:34 AM
Andy said: "A win for Oakley would have made him the first openly gay mayor of a major U.S. city."
Ah, are you forgetting David N. Cicilline, current mayor of Providence, RI?
Heh, unless Providence isn't major enough!
Posted by: Rob (lrdarystar) | Jun 18, 2007 8:50:41 AM
Providence is a major city - as is San Diego, where openly gay Toni Atkins was mayor. I know Dallas thinks they are the center of the universe, but there were trailblazers before him.
Posted by: Alan | Jun 18, 2007 9:12:34 AM
I thought the mayor of San Fransisco was gay?
And for the record Dallas, et al, we in Toronto believe we are the centre of the universe, thankyouverymuch, alas, no gay mayor but he is a major twit if that counts for anything!
Posted by: mark | Jun 18, 2007 10:25:15 AM
Alan, it wasn't a Dallasite claiming Oakley would've been the first. It was media sources across the nation. And Wayne is right. Oakley's campaign didn't have any substance. Of course, it didn't help that an unaffiliated PAC made tens of thousands (or more) of calls to voters denigrating Oakley for being a dirty "homosexual." Leppert claimed no connection. But the calls were all over the media, of course, which is what made a spectacle of it to begin with.
Posted by: sam | Jun 18, 2007 10:29:01 AM
The mayor of San Francisco is gay-friendly, but not gay - in fact, he's a little too into women, as he shtupped his chief of staff's wife.
And Providence, though not minor, is not among the 100 largest American cities by population, so saying Dallas would be the first major city to elect an openly gay mayor would be arguably correct. (San Diego did beat Dallas to having a gay mayor, but Toni Atkins was mayor pro tempore and not elected to the position.)
Posted by: Ben | Jun 18, 2007 10:58:19 AM
Wayne: If you live in Dallas, then you know the Dallas Morning News did a poll a week out that showed this race absolutely tied. The final numbers were indeed much less close, but nobody thought there would be a rout. The fact that Ed ran so closely at all is a major victory for openly gay candidates. Can you imagine someone doing that just a decade ago, in a place like Dallas?
Posted by: allen t. | Jun 18, 2007 11:40:24 AM
Mark,
SF Mayor Gavin Newsom isn't gay. He was married to Kimberly Guilfoyle, a news reporter for Court TV and FOX News. And, although it wasn't revealed until after the divorce, he actually had an extra-marital affair with one of his (female) secretaries.
As for his credentials as a "gay-friendly" progressive, that seems to have been a fairly recent development. Some people say it's a genuine evolution, but others are far more skeptical.
Newsom reportedly gave money to the California Republican Party as late as mid 90s. However, recognizing that the GOP has little power in San Francisco, Newsom entered politics as a Democrat. And since then, he has moved (or at least presented himself as moving) further to left -- embracing same-sex marriage, labour unions, and universal health care.
At the same time, however, he continues to be generally seen as pro-development. In Newsom's first term, skyscraper construction in San Francisco has exploded. His attempts to crackdown on homelessness (by cutting general assistance, increasing enforcement of panhandling laws, and getting more people into shelters) has also angered leftists, who say he's only on their side when it serves his purposes.
Posted by: John | Jun 18, 2007 4:10:26 PM
Don’t believe the Anti Newsom Trolls. They’re always trying to paint him as a right wing devil in the disguise of a liberal, recklessly and ruthlessly misrepresenting the truth, when they aren’t simply lying, in the process.
FACT: Newsom’s father and grandfather were very active in the local and state Democratic party, the former having been made a state Court of Appeals judge by Jerry Brown, and the latter a close friend of Jerry’s father, former Democratic governor Pat Brown. The family has had marriage ties with Nancy Pelosi’s family, and Gavin’s aunt is married to actor, and liberal Democrat, Ed Asner. There is no reason to believe that he ever considered being a Republican anywhere, let alone San Francisco.
FACT: the affair was only “extramarital” from the woman’s point of view, as she was married and Newsom and his wife had separated and filed for divorce. It was still “wrong,” but not as wrong as the Anti Newsom Troll portrayed.
FACT: There is no more “gay-friendly” nongay politician in the country, and slander bombs such claiming that “a fairly recent development.....[an] evolution...others are far more skeptical” are dropped without any documentation at all. One CAN document that some believe Newsom’s unprecedented attempt to legalize gay marriage in San Francisco destroyed any chance he might have had to rise further in politics. He was publicly criticized by mentors Nancy Pelosi and Dianne Feinstein and fellow liberal Senator Barbara Boxer, and Barrack Obama has resisted being seen with him in public. He was verbally crucified by gay politico Barney Frank, and received over 1400 death threats. Despite all of this, The City is still pursuing the case in court, and he still defends his actions while calling other Democrats cowardly for not supporting gay marriage. He will again be in SF’s gay pride parade Sunday, something 99% of US mayors still refuse to do in their cities, and something former mayor now Senator Feinstein has never done.
FACT: Picketing one of his own city’s hotel with striking workers and refusing to hold any City event at hotel’s being struck is hardly the act of someone only “presenting” himself as being progressive or “left.”
FACT: Nor is his program for universal health care—the first of any city in the country.
FACT: Nor is his declaring that his administration will not cooperate with federal immigration raids.
FACT: Newsom is hated by those Bleeding Hearts who continue to believe that simply handing out government money to the homeless is the right thing to do. In recent years, SF was so famous for its handouts that some homeless interviewed said they had traveled here from other states for the generous dole. His program, approved by voters, is called “Care Not Cash,” which, for instance, supplies rent vouchers rather than cash. Increasing shelters has resulted in thousands more homeless being housed. SF’s reputation as a “soft touch” continues, however, and more continue to move here.
FACT: Absurdly, “pro-development” has become a lunatic fringe buzzword for antihuman. Except to those crispy critters left over from the 60s, development, per se, is not bad. It depends on what’s being developed. And, while there are more tall buildings in SF, they aren’t “more tall,” and have hardly “exploded.” The City’s tallest building remains the Transamerica Pyramid, which opened THIRTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, and is still shorter than the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings and Sears Tower. In any case, to posit “after Newsom therefore because of Newsom” is, at best, a logical fallacy.
Newsom is far from perfect, but he’s the most genuinely progressive, innovative, ballsy mayor San Francisco has ever had; still so popular in this city of extremists that it’s possible no one will run against him this fall.
Posted by: Leland | Jun 18, 2007 5:33:00 PM
It's also worthy of noting that three other gay candidates were running in and around Dallas, and all lost. All of them had some form of private smear campaign about their sexuality, mostly by church groups who were rallied to keep traditional values in place.
Congratulations to Chris Moss who ran for Frisco City Council Place 4, Joseph Hernandez who ran for Dallas City Council District 3 and Jason Russell who ran for Cedar Hill City Council Place 5.
Posted by: James | Jun 18, 2007 7:10:02 PM