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Openly gay candidate disqualified
tybird
Posts: 17,388
A lovely little piece of news regarding an election down here in Alabama. If you read the article, you discover why many Alabama voters left the Democratic Party in recent years and have never gone back. It was backroom politics of this sort that produced the first Republican governor in over 100 years back in the 1980's.
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1156498102183020.xml&coll=2
Panel disqualifies both District 54 candidates
Democratic Party may handpick a nominee
Friday, August 25, 2006
BOB JOHNSON
The Associated Press
MONTGOMERY - A Democratic Party committee Thursday night disqualified an openly gay candidate for the Alabama Legislature and the woman she defeated in the primary runoff because both women violated a party rule that party officials said no other candidate has obeyed since 1988.
The committee voted 5-0 to disqualify House District 54 candidate Patricia Todd, who was attempting to become the state's first openly gay legislator, and Gaynell Hendricks.
Committee chairwoman Amy Burks said earlier Thursday the party's executive committee would make the final decision and select a nominee for the Birmingham seat at a meeting in Montgomery Saturday.
Committee members said they would issue a formal order this morning.
State Democratic Party Chairman Joe Turnham was "very surprised" by the decision Thursday, said Zac McCrary, a party spokesman. Turnham believes the party's executive committee might change the decision based on an "archaic bylaw," McCrary said.
Attorney Bobby Segall told the committee earlier Thursday that if the party disqualified Todd for not filing a financial disclosure form with the party chairman it would also have to disqualify the party's nominee for governor, Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley, and for lieutenant governor, former Gov. Jim Folsom Jr.
"Lucy Baxley is out of here. Just let the Republicans take over the state Senate and the House. Jim Folsom is out of here," Segall said in an emotional presentation to the committee. Committee members announced their decision about two hours after the hearing ended.
Committee members and party officials said the committee's decision would not affect any other Democratic party nominees - like Baxley - because the results of other races have already been certified.
Todd defeated Hendricks by 59 votes in the July 18 runoff election. The diverse district includes some of Birmingham's richest and poorest neighborhoods. There is no Republican opposition in the race and the Democratic candidate will likely take the seat, replacing retiring Rep. George Perdue, D-Birmingham.
A challenge filed by Hendricks' mother-in-law, Mattie Childress, claimed that Todd filed her campaign financial disclosure form with the Alabama secretary of state's office late to hide a $25,000 contribution from a national gay rights group.
Dennis Dison, a spokesman for that group, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, issued a statement Thursday night decrying the committee's decision.
"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," Dison said.
Another Todd attorney, Ed Still, told the committee that Todd filed her form July 17, the day before the July 18 runoff. While the filing was in violation of a requirement that the forms be filed five days before the election, Still said the Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that candidates can't be disqualified if they file before the election.
But the attorney for Childress, Raymond Johnson, said Todd should instead be disqualified for violating a 1974 Democratic Party rule that requires Democratic candidates to file financial disclosure statements with the party chairman five days before the election.
Democratic Party Executive Director Jim Spearman testified that as far as he knew, no Democratic candidate had filed a disclosure statement with the chairman since 1988, when the state law requiring financial disclosure was passed.
Spearman said no candidate this year, including Todd or Hendricks, had filed the disclosure form with the chairman.
Johnson said Todd should be disqualified for violating the rule because the challenge was filed against her and not against Hendricks.
"No direction has been given to candidates telling them not to file that report," Johnson said.
Hendricks said after the hearing that she believes the outcome of the election would have been different if voters had known the source of some of Todd's campaign funds.
"If her disclosure form had been filed on time the public would have had that information to make a decision on," Hendricks said.
This is about race':
Todd said she believes the challenge has nothing to do with the fact she is gay, but is about the fact that she is white and won in a majority black district.
"Of course if I was black I don't think they would have contested the election," Todd said. She blamed the contest on Joe Reed, longtime chairman of the black Democratic caucus, who wrote a letter before the election urging black leaders to support Hendricks because of her race and stressing the need for keeping the seat in black hands.
Segall also alluded to Reed's influence in his closing statement to the committee.
"This is about race. Folks are upset that a white woman won in a black district. There are some times you just have to say `this isn't right,'" Segall said.
Contacted after the hearing, Reed said he was not responsible for filing the election challenge, but he said he believes Todd should be disqualified for violating the party rule.
"The rule requires everybody to file it. The rule doesn't exclude anyone from filing it," Reed said.
He said Todd should be punished for not following the rule, because the challenge was filed against her and not against other candidates.
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1156498102183020.xml&coll=2
Panel disqualifies both District 54 candidates
Democratic Party may handpick a nominee
Friday, August 25, 2006
BOB JOHNSON
The Associated Press
MONTGOMERY - A Democratic Party committee Thursday night disqualified an openly gay candidate for the Alabama Legislature and the woman she defeated in the primary runoff because both women violated a party rule that party officials said no other candidate has obeyed since 1988.
The committee voted 5-0 to disqualify House District 54 candidate Patricia Todd, who was attempting to become the state's first openly gay legislator, and Gaynell Hendricks.
Committee chairwoman Amy Burks said earlier Thursday the party's executive committee would make the final decision and select a nominee for the Birmingham seat at a meeting in Montgomery Saturday.
Committee members said they would issue a formal order this morning.
State Democratic Party Chairman Joe Turnham was "very surprised" by the decision Thursday, said Zac McCrary, a party spokesman. Turnham believes the party's executive committee might change the decision based on an "archaic bylaw," McCrary said.
Attorney Bobby Segall told the committee earlier Thursday that if the party disqualified Todd for not filing a financial disclosure form with the party chairman it would also have to disqualify the party's nominee for governor, Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley, and for lieutenant governor, former Gov. Jim Folsom Jr.
"Lucy Baxley is out of here. Just let the Republicans take over the state Senate and the House. Jim Folsom is out of here," Segall said in an emotional presentation to the committee. Committee members announced their decision about two hours after the hearing ended.
Committee members and party officials said the committee's decision would not affect any other Democratic party nominees - like Baxley - because the results of other races have already been certified.
Todd defeated Hendricks by 59 votes in the July 18 runoff election. The diverse district includes some of Birmingham's richest and poorest neighborhoods. There is no Republican opposition in the race and the Democratic candidate will likely take the seat, replacing retiring Rep. George Perdue, D-Birmingham.
A challenge filed by Hendricks' mother-in-law, Mattie Childress, claimed that Todd filed her campaign financial disclosure form with the Alabama secretary of state's office late to hide a $25,000 contribution from a national gay rights group.
Dennis Dison, a spokesman for that group, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, issued a statement Thursday night decrying the committee's decision.
"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," Dison said.
Another Todd attorney, Ed Still, told the committee that Todd filed her form July 17, the day before the July 18 runoff. While the filing was in violation of a requirement that the forms be filed five days before the election, Still said the Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that candidates can't be disqualified if they file before the election.
But the attorney for Childress, Raymond Johnson, said Todd should instead be disqualified for violating a 1974 Democratic Party rule that requires Democratic candidates to file financial disclosure statements with the party chairman five days before the election.
Democratic Party Executive Director Jim Spearman testified that as far as he knew, no Democratic candidate had filed a disclosure statement with the chairman since 1988, when the state law requiring financial disclosure was passed.
Spearman said no candidate this year, including Todd or Hendricks, had filed the disclosure form with the chairman.
Johnson said Todd should be disqualified for violating the rule because the challenge was filed against her and not against Hendricks.
"No direction has been given to candidates telling them not to file that report," Johnson said.
Hendricks said after the hearing that she believes the outcome of the election would have been different if voters had known the source of some of Todd's campaign funds.
"If her disclosure form had been filed on time the public would have had that information to make a decision on," Hendricks said.
This is about race':
Todd said she believes the challenge has nothing to do with the fact she is gay, but is about the fact that she is white and won in a majority black district.
"Of course if I was black I don't think they would have contested the election," Todd said. She blamed the contest on Joe Reed, longtime chairman of the black Democratic caucus, who wrote a letter before the election urging black leaders to support Hendricks because of her race and stressing the need for keeping the seat in black hands.
Segall also alluded to Reed's influence in his closing statement to the committee.
"This is about race. Folks are upset that a white woman won in a black district. There are some times you just have to say `this isn't right,'" Segall said.
Contacted after the hearing, Reed said he was not responsible for filing the election challenge, but he said he believes Todd should be disqualified for violating the party rule.
"The rule requires everybody to file it. The rule doesn't exclude anyone from filing it," Reed said.
He said Todd should be punished for not following the rule, because the challenge was filed against her and not against other candidates.
All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a thousand enemies, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you, digger, listener, runner, prince with the swift warning. Be cunning and full of tricks and your people shall never be destroyed.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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i dunno what kind of governor he's gonna be but i saw him being interviewed on PTI (ESPN) and he said all the things i would want to hear ...
The current governor tried to pass a tax plan that would fund the state (especially education), but the huge landowners (mostly out-of -state corporations) killed that by throwing obscene amounts of money against it. We have very, very, very low property taxes in Alabama. The state has to make it up with regressive taxes on food, goods, and especially gasoline.
I have never voted for a Democratic candidate for governor because of the Baxley/Graddick mess in 1986, but I would vote for Charles.
They disqualified her based on some outdated law about 'disclosure'... which would mean that they just brought that up to get her out.. because she's gay.. and if she was black they say that wouldn't have happened because she's in a largely black district?
Did I get that right?
http://www.wishlistfoundation.org
Oh my, they dropped the leash.
Morgan Freeman/Clint Eastwood 08' for President!
"Make our day"
Wasn't sure if I was reading it correctly or not but that's what I got out of it, too.
So are we right or wrong?
...signed...the token black Pearl Jam fan.
FaceSpace
Anyway.. That's ridiculous, but we're moving past this era of homophobia. Just like the civil rights movement, the women's rights movement, etc. Every period of liberal thinking (90's in this case) is followed by a wave of old conservatives condemning whatever advancing we're doing as a society. They lose every time though, don't worry
http://www.wishlistfoundation.org
Oh my, they dropped the leash.
Morgan Freeman/Clint Eastwood 08' for President!
"Make our day"
But you're right; the waves of these things do come and go, but America's definitely having an off news week regarding civil rights and the womens' movement; this story, the back of the bus story and the career-minded women making bad spouses story.
I think I shall stop reading/watching the news for a little while.
...signed...the token black Pearl Jam fan.
FaceSpace
As for the issue, **sigh** it depresses me.
At the start of the campaign in question, the de-facto head of the Alabama Democratic openly said that the district should have a black representative. The lesbian lady is white. Her opponent is black, and I suspect that the winner of the Democratic nod for this district will run unopposed in November. So when the white lesiban won, they had to find a way to make her go away. They dug up this old party rule up from the basement, and used it when the losing candidate's mother-in-law challenged the election. The original challenge charge was based on illegal votes, but that was dropped when they thought that they could use this old party by-law. Alas for them, it forced the party to disqualify both candidates. Their silver-lining is that now the Democratic Party's executives will choose a candidate for the general election.
Chalk it up to a reversal of the misfortunes.
...signed...the token black Pearl Jam fan.
FaceSpace