Patricia Todd was the first openly gay elected official in the state of Alabama, but now her election has been overturned by a Democratic committee that says Todd (and her opponent Gaynell Hendricks, who was also disqualified), failed to file a required campaign finance report on time.
Supporters are crying ‘foul’ because no other candidate has obeyed the rule since 1988.
Todd says that the decision is not about the fact that she is gay, but that some folks don’t like a white woman winning in a black district: “”Of course if I was black I don’t think they would have contested the election.”
Dennis Dison, a spokesman for the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which supported Todd, said, “Patricia got the most votes in two separate elections — the primary and the runoff — but party bosses didn’t like the outcome, so now they want to simply handpick a candidate. What happened today in Montgomery was unfair, undemocratic, un-American and unwise.”
A new candidate will be picked by the party’s exectuive committee at a meeting this Saturday.
Dems use ignored rule to oust gay candidate [msnbc]
Election of Alabama lesbian overturned by committee [pageoneq]
Previously
Something Rotten In Alabama’s Democratic Party? [tr]
Alabama Elects its First Openly Gay Official [tr]
