Handel concedes in anti-gay GOP governor's contest; Sinkfield wins Dem nomination for Secretary of State
The General Primary Runoff will determine the winner out of the top two finishers in contests where no candidate received the majority of votes in the July 10 primary election.
In addition to the contest between lesbian candidates Keisha Waites and Joan Garner in Fulton County, here are two of the top races of LGBT interest on the primary ballot.
While few candidates for the state’s top offices have openly campaigned for LGBT votes, many have long records — some positive, more negative — on issues that impact our community.
In the days leading up to the July 20 primary, you couldn’t turn on the television without being inundated with ads from Republicans running for governor who wanted to tell you how anti-gay they are.
This year’s election season has been particularly bad, largely due to the particular Republicans on the ballot.
Karen Handel supported domestic partner benefits and was a member of the pro-gay Log Cabin Republicans during her campaigns for Fulton County Commission. But she denied those stands when she ran successfully for Secretary of State in 2006, and continues to deny her past support in her current bid for governor.
This year, Georgia elects a new governor, every state constitutional office, and every seat in the state legislature, plus many other offices ranging from U.S. Senate to county commissions.
The upcoming July 20 primaries will determine which Republicans and Democrats will battle it out in the Nov. 2 general election. A few November races also include a Libertarian or independent candidate as well.
The primary ballot includes three openly gay candidates: Joan Garner and Keisha Waites for Fulton County Commission District 6, and Keith Gross for State House District 80.
And while few candidates for the state’s top offices have openly campaigned for LGBT votes, many have long records — some positive, more negative — on issues that impact our community.
Before you vote in today's primary, take a look at our profiles of the candidates and their stands on LGBT issues
At least someone on Oxendine’s campaign staff does. Oxendine included us in a recent mailer attacking fellow Republican gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel for her past connections to the Georgia Log Cabin Republicans and support of gay issues. See the full mailer here.
We appreciate the shout-out, Ox! (Even if you did make up a fake page to display)
As the July 20 primary grows closer, the race to see which Republican will compete to be Georgia’s next governor just gets uglier. And of course, more anti-gay.
Former Secretary of State Karen Handel continues to run from her previous moderate stands on LGBT issues like domestic partner benefits.
Her GOP primary opponents, including former U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal and Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, released ads this week attacking Handel, and by extension, gay Georgians.
Today Handel fires back — not at her opponents, but at us.
Not to be outdone by his competitors, Nathan Deal, a republican candidate for Georgia governor, decided to put out his own campaign commercial degrading Karen Handel for her past stated support of domestic partner benefits and adoption rights for gay couples.
As if we needed another reason to oppose Karen Handel and Nathan Deal.
Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin endorsed former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel in her bid to become the state’s next governor.
Two Democrats are fighting for the chance to challenge incumbent Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-Atlanta) for House District 80, located in the northeast Atlanta suburbs.
Jacobs was first elected in 2004 as a Democrat and then switched parties after the 2006 election. This will be the first year he has faced a Democrat since becoming a Republican.
Business owners Sandy Murray and Keith Gross, who is gay, are vying for the Democratic nomination in the July 20 primary for the DeKalb district that runs from Interstate 285 near Ashford Dunwoody Road to the intersection of Lavista and Clairmont Road.
The gay Republican activist who stated in a 2003 interview that Karen Handel supports gay adoption and domestic partner benefits told the Georgia Voice that he stands by the quote, and provided email exchanges with the GOP politician that show her desire to win gay support.
Meanwhile, another gay Republican leader noted that the staff of Nathan Deal, who is attacking Handel on gay issues as they battle in the GOP primary for governor, welcomed and helped him when he visited Washington, D.C., for the gay Log Cabin Republicans national conference.
“We will be continuing our support for Karen Handel,” Marc Yeager, then-president of the Georgia Log Cabin Republicans, told Southern Voice newspaper in an article published Aug. 15, 2003. “She demonstrated in her last run that she was supportive of domestic partner benefits, and she’s supported same-sex adoptions on the basis of the best interest of the child.”