Tag Archives: gay politicians

Indianapolis’s ABC affiliate reports: Josh Owens filed paperwork today to enter the 2020 Governor’s race. “I’m running for Governor now because I believe in an Indiana where teachers are paid what they deserve and where all are welcomed, respected and protected,” Owens said. “We need a leader who will ensure our state budget, policies and laws reflect a bold and …

From an opinion piece in the Irish Times: To look at Mike Pence, with all smiles and handshakes, you’d hardly think he isn’t very keen on the gays at all. Brave Mike sat down to lunch with the Taoiseach and his partner Matthew and managed not to choke on his Dublin Bay prawns. The VP’s wife Karen, who recently took …

Axios reports: Story Syndicate, a new production company founded by veteran filmmakers Liz Garbus and Dan Cogan, is creating a documentary on Mayor Pete Buttigieg, according to sources with knowledge of the film. Buttigieg becomes the latest millennial politician to turn to docs to define his legacy as an unlikely political challenger. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has both gotten involved with …

Politico reports: Pete Buttigieg’s campaign jolted its top donors with big news on a conference call last month: The upstart mayor had raised $7 million in the month of April alone, as much as Buttigieg had in his entire eye-catching first quarter in the presidential race. The huge April haul, which was previously unreported, highlights Buttigieg’s explosive rise in the …

The Irish Times reports: US president Donald Trump will visit Co Clare in early June, his first visit to Ireland as president, the White House has announced. Mr Trump will touch down in Shannon on the afternoon of June 5th after a three-day state visit to Britain. He will then depart the following morning to attend the D-Day commemorations in …

Politico reports: Democratic presidential contender Pete Buttigieg on Tuesday released his tax returns, following similar moves by his rivals as they seek to distinguish themselves from President Trump, who has come under scrutiny for his personal finances. Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., and a rising star in the crowded Democratic primary field, released 10 years of tax returns …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: Jane Castor is Tampa’s next mayor, making history as the first openly gay mayor to gain office in Tampa Bay. The retired police chief crushed opponent David Straz with 73 percent of the vote, stretching a near-win in the primary seven weeks ago into a full-on rout Tuesday night. It was over before the first …

NBC News reports: In a speech before an audience of LGBT rights supporters on Sunday, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, did not describe being gay as something he always believed was acceptable. Instead, he described wrestling with his sexual orientation as “a kind of war” — one he said he was only able to win when he came home …

The Chicago Tribune reports: Lori Lightfoot won a resounding victory Tuesday night to become both the first African-American woman and openly gay person elected mayor of Chicago, dealing a stinging defeat to a political establishment that has reigned over City Hall for decades. After waging a campaign focused on upending the vaunted Chicago political machine, Lightfoot dismantled one of its …

NBC News reports: As recently as 2006, when Pete Buttigieg was 24 years old, more than half of Americans said they would be “very uncomfortable” (34 percent) or have “reservations” (19 percent) about a gay or lesbian person running for president. That year, just five percent said they’d be enthusiastic about an LGBT candidate, according to an NBC/WSJ poll. An …

Politico reports: South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) surged into third place in a poll of the Iowa caucus released Sunday. Eleven percent of likely Democratic Iowa caucus-goers surveyed by Emerson Polling said they would pick Buttigieg to be their 2020 presidential nominee. Overall, Buttigieg placed third behind Former Vice President Joe Biden, at 25 percent, and Sen. Bernie …

The Chicago Sun-Times reports: Lori Lightfoot jokingly refers to herself as a “triple-threat” because she is an African-American woman vying to become Chicago’s first openly-gay mayor. Now, her sexuality is the subject of a dishonest and deceptive flyer distributed to parishioners at black churches on the South Side and elsewhere. On one side of the flyer is a picture of …

The Indianapolis Star reports: South Bend mayor and presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg said on Twitter Saturday morning that 65,000 people have donated to his exploratory committee, a mark that qualifies him to be invited to the first Democratic National Committee debate in June. The 37-year-old Rhodes Scholar and military veteran promised a “fresh start” for the White House, and he …

The Irish Times reports: On Thursday, Mr Varadkar attended a breakfast at the residence of vice-president Mike Pence. In a short speech delivered beside the vice-president, the Taoiseach reflected on his ambition to become a politician when he was younger. “I also knew at the time that I lived in a country where if I tried to be myself at …

The Nevada Independent reports: Democratic Senate Majority Leader Kelvin Atkinson is expected to resign from the Legislature on Tuesday after pleading guilty to federal charges of misappropriation of hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds for personal use. The sudden resignation marks a precipitous fall for Atkinson, the state’s third African-American and first openly gay Senate majority leader. A …

Reuters reports: Two black women will face off in an historic April runoff for Chicago mayor, one a former prosecutor and anti-establishment candidate and the other a career politician, as the third-largest U.S. city struggles with crime and racial divisions. Lori Lightfoot, 56, the former president of independent civilian body the Chicago Police Board, had 17 percent of the first …

“Look, I get the audacity of somebody like me talking about running for this office, but frankly it’s a leap for anybody. Anybody who arrives behind that desk. And yet all of the people who had that job have been mortals who just bring their experience to the table. My experience is that of guiding a city through a transformation, …

The New York Times reports: Two leading candidates in the 2021 race for mayor of New York City are already beginning their ground game. Corey Johnson, the speaker of the New York City Council, and Scott M. Stringer, the city’s comptroller, will soon begin hosting fund-raising house parties, seeking to plant a stake in what is certain to be a …

The Associated Press reports: An openly gay congressman who frequently clashed with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Thursday he was leaving his job and the country because of mounting death threats. In an interview published by daily Folha de S. Paulo, Congressman Jean Wyllys said he was currently outside of Brazil and had no plans to return. Instead, he said …

ABC News reports: Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old, two-term Democratic mayor of South Bend, Indiana, took a significant step toward a run for the White House on Wednesday, announcing that he is forming a presidential exploratory committee, the precursor to an official campaign. He was commissioned as a Navy intelligence officer in 2009 and in 2013, while serving as mayor, he …