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.
Candidate profile: Keith Gross
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, he just assumed he wouldn’t be the first gay man elected to the state’s legislative body.
“I didn’t know … until a week after I had announced and someone told me we didn’t have one, never had. That was actually a pretty big surprise to me,” he said, noting he recently became aware of Rep. Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates), the first openly lesbian state lawmaker.
“There is always that concern, this is Georgia, but it is also 2008, and I think people are ready to look at the issues,” Gross said. “I think the real issues are the transportation issues that we have, the healthcare issues that we need to be addressing.”
Jacobs said he expected to face opposition in his re-election bid. Jacobs describes himself as “LBGT friendly,” and said he doesn’t expect to treat Gross any differently than any other contender.
Candidate profile: Kevin Clark
Kevin Clark wants to become the first openly gay person to serve in the Georgia Senate. (Photo courtesy Clark)
As Kevin Clark drove the ribbon of asphalt that slices through Georgia’s lush coastal plains, his mind kept returning to one key question: “Is this the time to run for Senate?”
“I almost pulled the truck over several times driving up to Atlanta [to file qualifying papers for office], but I decided I have to follow this through,” Clark said.
A member of the Georgia Equality political board and owner of a downtown Savannah bed & breakfast, Clark, 45, is running to be first openly gay man elected to the Georgia Senate. He seeks the District 2 seat left open when Sen. Regina Thomas (D-Savannah) left to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. John Barrow (D-Savannah) for his seat in Congress.
“This is probably the worst possible time for me personally, but all around there seems to be signs from the universe saying ‘go, go,’” Clark said.
Clark said he knew, despite his partner’s health concerns, if he didn’t run now he’d have to wait years for an open Senate race.
Clark moved to Savannah in 1995 to open a bed & breakfast in the city’s historic district. Shortly after setting up his first B&B, he met his partner of 12 years. Together the couple restored another historic home and converted it into “Under the Rainbow Bed & Breakfast.”
Emotion floods into Clark’s voice as he describes his partner’s struggle with HIV and alcoholism.
“It’s just terrible. He slips through the cracks, and I don’t have anywhere that will help him,” Clark said. “That’s one reason why I’m running. We need to fix trauma care.”
Clark faces Bettye Anne Battiste, 60, a retired university administrator, and four-term state Rep. Lester Jackson, 48, (D-Savannah), who now hopes to move to the Senate.
Although Clark has not run for office before, he has lists of contacts from serving on the Georgia Equality political board for the past decade, and a tenure with the Savannah Crime Task Force that he cites as experience. Clark also has a list of political donors and contacts he feels will mobilize in time for the July 15 primary.
“I’m going to pour myself into this, and I’m going to do it,” he said. “It is a challenge. I have no illusion about that. But then again I’ve been working my butt off for this community, not just the LGBT community.”
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