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By: MATT SCHAFER
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Four openly gay candidates, two men and two women, will seek seats in the Georgia General Assembly this year.
At the close of the official candidate qualifying period on May 2, State Rep. Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates) effectively won her fifth term in office as no one challenged her for the House District 86 seat. Drenner is Georgia’s first and only openly gay state lawmaker.
The three other gay candidates all face opposition in either the July 15 Democratic primary or the Nov. 4 general election.
Keith Gross, a gay Atlanta Democrat, is in a head-to-head race for House District 80 with gay-friendly Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-Atlanta), who switched parties after the last election. No other candidates qualified for the seat from either party, so Gross and Jacobs face off on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Another gay-friendly Republican, Rep. Jill Chambers of Atlanta, was the only Republican to cross party lines to vote against the anti-gay marriage amendment in 2004. She will face the winner of the Democratic Primary race between Chris Huttman of Chamblee and Cecillia Hailey of Atlanta in the general election.
“It’s actually interesting that the two GLBT-friendly Republican legislators in the state are facing stiff opposition,” Jacobs said.
Kevin Clark, a Georgia Equality board member, is running for the strongly Democratic state Senate District 2 seat from Savannah. He faces two opponents in the July primary, Bettye Anne Battiste, a retired university administrator, and Rep. Lester Jackson (D-Savannah), who wants to move up to the state Senate after serving in the House.
Keisha Waites would make history as the first openly gay person of color elected to a state-level office if she wins in the House District 61 race in southwest Atlanta. Waites is one of seven Democrats running for the post held by Rep. Bob Holmes (D-Atlanta) since 1975 before retiring this year.
A number of lawmakers who have either been friendly to gay legislation in the past or voted against the 2004 state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage are unopposed this year. Reps. Kathy Ashe (D-Midtown), Rob Teilhet (D-Smyrna) and Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) are all unopposed.
Rep. Sharon Cooper (R-East Cobb), who Georgia Equality credits with single-handedly killing a bill that called hate crimes sentence enhancements “repugnant,” is also running unopposed.
Sen. Nan Orrock (D-Atlanta) faces two opponents in the Democratic primary, Andre Jerry and Erik Underwood. Other races of particular interest to gay voters include a bid by the primary author of the Senate resolution to ban gay marriage, Mike Crotts, who will oppose Sen. John Douglas (R-Gainesville) in the Republican primary in his attempt to retake office.
Sen. Nancy Schaefer (R-Turnerville) faces two Republican challengers after initially deciding to run for Congress before returning to the state Senate.
Gay businessman Keith Gross is challenging a gay-friendly incumbent who switched parties last year.(Photo courtesy of keithgross.com)
Keith Gross says he didn’t think twice about running as an openly gay candidate. Hiding his sexuality wasn’t an option when he decided to run for the state House.
Gross, 24, from Atlanta’s Druid Hills neighborhood, is running for House District 80, hoping to unseat Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-Atlanta), who switched parties after the 2006 election. Gross, like a growing number of his peers, came out in high school and said he never felt the need to hide his orientation.
“It wasn’t much of a decision as to if I would run openly gay. I am openly gay. I never considered running as anything else,” Gross said.
Gross touts his experience in business as one of his prime qualifications for office. Gross has been building, buying and selling businesses since age 14. While attending a Panama City high school, he incorporated a tech support company that held a number of contracts. Once he sold his first company, he said he used the profits to begin buying failing companies, often restaurants, turning them around and selling for a profit.
“Normally they are failing for a few simple reasons,” Gross said.
Now he hopes to take his experience fixing failed companies and move effectively in a state government often halted by partisan politics and personal agendas.
Gross wants to focus on Atlanta’s transportation infrastructure, address the state’s water shortage, and encourage renewable energy. As much research as he did before announcing his campaign last year, ...
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