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ELECTION 2016: Openly LGBTQ Candidates Vie To Make History Across Nation

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Seven Out Hopefuls Could Become Firsts In Their States

This year’s election contests aren’t just going to be a big day for the presidential race. There are numerous state and local officers up for election. Because we know just how important — perhaps even more so — these down-ballot races can be, The New Civil rights Movement is breaking down the other races and what initiatives progressives should be paying attention to as they head to the ballot box on Tuesday. 

In Part 1 we looked at the 12 states electing a new governor. Part 2 took a look at some of the key US Senate races. This time, we’re taking a look at a few of the candidates who could become the first or only openly LGBTQ legislator in (or from) their state.  

Colorado’s 5 Congressional District: Misty Plowright

Misty Plowright is the first transgender candidate from Colorado, and she’s running for Congress. She’s been decried by the Right and ignored by her opponent Doug Lamborn, but as she told the Denver Post, “It’s hard to come after me. I’m not ashamed of who I am.” No Democrat has ever done better than 40 percent, though that’s not stopping Misty from trying. “I’ve been underestimated my entire life. Well, I’m still here and I’m still going,” she said.

Colorado House of Representatives, 8th District: Leslie Herod

If elected, Leslie Herod will become the first African American LGBTQ person to serve in the Colorado legislature. She’s running in a reliably blue district and is poised to make history. 

North Carolina House of Representatives, District 98: Jane Campbell

Jane Campbell’s opponent, Republican John R Bradford III, was one of the chief architects and proponents of HB2, which was motivation enough to convince Campbell to run. She’s not affiliated with any party though she’s heavily backed by Democrats. She’s also endorsed by HRC, Equality NC, and The News-Observer. She’s poised to be the only openly gay member of the legislature when elected. (Chris Sgro, executive director of Equality NC, was appointed to his temporary position to complete the last session.) 

Georgia House of Representatives, 101st District: Sam Park

Sam Park joins a long line of openly gay men vying to be the first to be elected in Georgia and may well be the first to actually make it happen. His poll numbers show him in a very tight race against incumbent Valerie Clark. What makes this interesting is that Park comes from Gwinnett County, where, as of this month, a majority of voters represent minority communities. Pundits from both sides of the aisle say this shows the coming change of Georgia’s red-voting habits to a deeper shade of purple. Park’s opponent was also a supporter of Georgia’s discriminatory “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” which was famously vetoed. (Full disclosure: I know Sam personally and on the board of a group that endorsed him. I also think he’s great.)

Washington’s 7th Congressional District: Brady Piñero Walkinshaw

Brady Walkinshaw is looking to make the move from the state legislature up as the first openly LGBTQ Latino American elected to Congress. Walkingshaw’s district is safely Democratic, but his opponent, Pramila Jayapal, is also a Democrat. Both candidates have stood up for LGBTQ rights and immigrant rights and it seems as though Washington (both the state and the district) will be well served by either candidate.

Montana’s Congressional Representative: Denise Juneau

Denise Juneau could become the first Native American in Congress and the first openly LGBTQ representative from Montana. However, recent polling has her opponent, Trump-endorsing former Navy SEAL Ryan Zinke, up 19 points.  

Arizona House of Representatives, District 2: Daniel Hernandez

Daniel Hernandez first made news when he helped then-Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords stay alive after she was shot in 2011 at a public event. Now he’s advocating for stricter gun laws and LGBTQ rights. If elected, he’ll be the only openly LGBTQ legislator in Arizona. 

This is just a small sampling of some of the many openly-LGBTQ candidates running in 2016. There are also numerous LGBTQ-friendly candidates running. Be sure to do your research before you head to the polls — you could help make history! Check out your local LGBTQ PAC or other groups and make sure your voice is heard!

Image via TorbakHopper and a Creative Common License on Flickr

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News

‘To Do God Knows What’: Local Elections Official Reads Lara Trump the Riot Act

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The county clerk for Ingham County, Michigan blasted Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump after the ex-president’s daughter-in-law bragged the RNC will have people to “physically handle” voters’ ballots in polling locations across the country this November.

“We now have the ability at the RNC not just to have poll watchers, people standing in polling locations, but people who can physically handle the ballots,” Trump told Newsmax host Eric Bolling this week, as NCRM reported.

“Will these people, will they be allowed to physically handle the ballots as well, Lara?” Bolling asked.

“Yup,” Trump replied.

Marc Elias, the top Democratic elections attorney who won 63 of the 64 lawsuits filed by the Donald Trump campaign in the 2020 election cycle (the one he did not win was later overturned), corrected Lara Trump.

READ MORE: ‘I Hope You Find Happiness’: Moskowitz Trolls Comer Over Impeachment Fail

“Poll observers are NEVER permitted to touch ballots. She is suggesting the RNC will infiltrate election offices,” Elias warned on Wednesday.

Barb Byrum, a former Michigan Democratic state representative with a law degree and a local hardware store, is the Ingham County Clerk, and thus the chief elections official for her county. She slammed Lara Trump and warned her the RNC had better not try to touch any ballots in her jurisdiction.

“I watched your video, and it’s riveting stuff. But if you think you’ll be touching ballots in my state, you’ve got another thing coming,” Byrum told Trump in response to the Newsmax interview.

“First and foremost, precinct workers, clerks, and voters are the only people authorized to touch ballots. For example, I am the County Clerk, and I interact with exactly one voted ballot: My own,” Byrum wrote, launching a lengthy series of social media posts educating Trump.

“Election inspectors are hired by local clerks in Michigan and we hire Democrats and Republicans to work in our polling places. We’re required by law to do so,” she continued. “In large cities and townships, the local clerks train those workers. In smaller cities and townships, that responsibility falls to County Clerks, like me.”

READ MORE: ‘Doesn’t Care if Pregnant Women Live or Die’: Alito Slammed Over Emergency Abortion Remarks

She explained, “precinct workers swear an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Michigan.”

“Among the provisions in the Michigan Constitution is the right to a secret ballot for our voters,” she added.

Byrum also educated Trump on her inaccurate representation of the consent decree, which was lifted by a court, not a judge’s death, as Lara Trump had claimed.

“It’s important for folks to understand what you’re talking about: The end of a consent decree that was keeping the RNC from intimidating and suppressing voters (especially in minority-majority areas).”

“With that now gone, you’re hoping for the RNC to step up their game and get people that you train to do god-knows what into the polling places.”

Byrum also warned Trump: “If election inspectors are found to be disrupting the process of an orderly election OR going outside their duties, local clerks are within their rights to dismiss them immediately.”

“So if you intend to train these 100,000 workers to do anything but their sacred constitutional obligation, they’ll find themselves on the curb faster than you can say ‘election interference.'”

READ MORE: ‘Blood on Your Hands’: Tennessee Republicans OK Arming Teachers After Deadly School Shooting

 

 

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OPINION

‘I Hope You Find Happiness’: Moskowitz Trolls Comer Over Impeachment Fail

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U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) is mocking House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Comer over a CNN report revealing the embattled Kentucky Republican who has been alleging without proof President Joe Biden is the head of a vast multi-million dollar criminal bribery and influence-peddling conspiracy, has given up trying to impeach the leader of the free world.

CNN on Wednesday had reported, “after 15 months of coming up short in proving some of his biggest claims against the president, Comer recently approached one of his Republican colleagues and made a blunt admission: He was ready to be ‘done with’ the impeachment inquiry into Biden.” The news network described Chairman Comer as “frustrated” and his investigation as “at a dead end.”

One GOP lawmaker told CNN, “Comer is hoping Jesus comes so he can get out.”

“He is fed up,” the Republican added.

Despite the Chairman’s alleged remarks, “a House Oversight Committee spokesperson maintains that ‘the impeachment inquiry is ongoing and impeachment is 100% still on the table.'”

RELATED: ‘Used by the Russians’: Moskowitz Mocks Comer’s Biden Impeachment Failure

Last week, Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) got into a shouting match with Chairman Comer, with the Maryland Democrat saying, “You have not identified a single crime – what is the crime that you want to impeach Joe Biden for and keep this nonsense going?” and Comer replying, “You’re about to find out.”

Before those heated remarks, Congressman Raskin chided Comer, humorously threatening to invite Rep. Moskowitz to return to the hearing.

Congressman Moskowitz appears to be the only member of the House Oversight Committee who has ever made a motion to call for a vote on impeaching President Biden, which he did last month, although he did it to ridicule Chairman Comer.

It appears the Moskowitz-Comer “bromance” may be over.

Wednesday afternoon Congressman Moskowitz, whose sarcasm is becoming well-known, used it to ridicule Chairman Comer.

“I was hoping our breakup would never become public,” he declared. “We had such a great thing while it lasted James. I will miss the time we spent together. I will miss our conversations. I will miss the pet names you gave me. I only wish you the best and hope you find happiness.”

Watch the video above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Doesn’t Care if Pregnant Women Live or Die’: Alito Slammed Over Emergency Abortion Remarks

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OPINION

‘Doesn’t Care if Pregnant Women Live or Die’: Alito Slammed Over Emergency Abortion Remarks

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The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case centered on the question, can the federal government require states with strict abortion bans to allow physicians to perform abortions in emergency situations, specifically when the woman’s health, but not her life, is in danger?

The 1986 federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), signed into law by Republican President Ronald Reagan, says it can. The State of Idaho on Wednesday argued it cannot.

U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, The Washington Post’s Kim Bellware reported, “made a clear delineation between Idaho law and what EMTALA provides.”

“In Idaho, doctors have to shut their eyes to everything except death,” Prelogar said, according to Bellware. “Whereas under EMTALA, you’re supposed to be thinking about things like, ‘Is she about to lose her fertility? Is her uterus going to become incredibly scarred because of the bleeding? Is she about to undergo the possibility of kidney failure?’ ”

READ MORE: Gag Order Breach? Trump Targeted Cohen in Taped Interview Hours Before Contempt Hearing

Attorney Imani Gandy, an award-winning journalist and Editor-at-Large for Rewire News Group, highlighted an issue central to the case.

“The issue of medical judgment vs. good faith judgment is a huge one because different states have different standards of judgment,” she writes. “If a doctor exercises their judgment, another doctor expert witness at trial could question that. That’s a BIG problem here. That’s why doctors are afraid to provide abortions. They may have an overzealous prosecutor come behind them and disagree.”

Right-wing Justice Samuel Alito appeared to draw the most fire from legal experts, as his questioning suggested “fetal personhood” should be the law, which it is not.

“Justice Alito is trying to import fetal personhood into federal statutory law by suggesting federal law might well prohibit hospitals from providing abortions as emergency stabilizing care,” observed Constitutional law professor Anthony Michael Kreis.

Paraphrasing Justice Alito, Kreis writes: “Alito: How can the federal government restrict what Idaho criminalizes simply because hospitals in Idaho have accepted federal funds?”

Appearing to answer that question, Georgia State University College of Law professor of law and Constitutional scholar Eric Segall wrote: “Our Constitution unequivocally allows the federal gov’t to offer the states money with conditions attached no matter how invasive b/c states can always say no. The conservative justices’ hostility to the spending power is based only on politics and values not text or history.”

Professor Segall also served up some of the strongest criticism of the right-wing justice.

READ MORE: ‘They Will Have Thugs?’: Lara Trump’s Claim RNC Will ‘Physically Handle the Ballots’ Stuns

He wrote that Justice Alito “is basically making it clear he doesn’t care if pregnant women live or die as long as the fetus lives.”

Earlier Wednesday morning Segall had issued a warning: “Trigger alert: In about 20 minutes several of the conservative justices are going to show very clearly that that they care much more about fetuses than women suffering major pregnancy complications which is their way of owning the libs which is grotesque.”

Later, predicting “Alito is going to dissent,” Segall wrote: “Alito is dripping arrogance and condescension…in a case involving life, death, and medical emergencies. He has no bottom.”

Taking a broader view of the case, NYU professor of law Melissa Murray issued a strong warning: “The EMTALA case, Moyle v. US, hasn’t received as much attention as the mifepristone case, but it is huge. Not only implicates access to emergency medical procedures (like abortion in cases of miscarriage), but the broader question of federal law supremacy.”

READ MORE: ‘Blood on Your Hands’: Tennessee Republicans OK Arming Teachers After Deadly School Shooting

 

 

 

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