An emotional Keisha Waites says she wants voters to look past the fact she has run unsuccessfully eight times for city, county and state offices now that she is campaigning for a an open seat in the Georgia House of Representatives. Instead, she said voters — and all people in the LGBT community — should know that her multiple runs for office signify a dedication to public service.
Waites, 39, a lesbian, brought campaign supporter Devin Barrington Ward for an interview with GA Voice at the 14th Street Starbucks on Wednesday. Waites is running against two other women in the Feb. 7 special election for House District 60, but has not been open to interview with the press in the past because she said she believes she is portrayed inaccurately as simply a “perennial candidate.” But by sitting down with reporters now, she said she hopes for a “healing” as well as to be a proactive contributor to a broader portrait of herself.
Dan Matthews of Watkinsville, endorsed by Georgia Equality, is in a runoff for House District 113 after a special election held June 21. The runoff is slated for July 19.
Watkinsville is located in Oconee County, about 70 miles west of Atlanta and near Athens.
In an email sent to supporters today, Georgia Equality, the state's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy organization, asks for people across the state to support Matthews by making donations to to his campaign try to defeat the favored opponent, Republican Chuck Williams.