Source: Wichita Eagle, Washington Blade, Advocate
Wichita, Kan. -- A heated primary race here for an open seat in the state legislature was decided August 5, but the campaign has given rise to an equally heated exchange of charges between two LGBT advocacy groups.
A Washington, DC-based LGBT group accused the victor of using "gutter politics" to fuel her win, but a leader of a Kansas LGBT group fired back against the national group, calling its charges "completely over the line."
After Gail Finney beat out Inga Taylor, a black lesbian medical assistant, for the 84th District House seat, the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund charged that Finney had launched "a last minute, anti-gay smear campaign" against the lesbian candidate, Washington Blade reports.
But Thomas Witt, chair of Kansas Equality Coalition, a statewide gay advocacy group, told the Blade that the DC-based Victory Fund is making inaccurate accusations against Finney to cover its own mistakes in Taylor's campaign.
The Victory Fund has called on Finney to apologize for her last-minute attack campaign. Witt, who was initially involved with Taylor's campaign, has called on the Victory Fund to apologize for criticizing Finney.
A spokesman for the national group responded to Witt's charges, saying he "is clearly still disgruntled" that he was not involved in the later stages of Taylor's campaign, according to Washington Blade.
Finney, a marketing consultant and vice chair of the Sedgwick County Democrat Party, won the open legislative seat despite Taylor raising roughly $10,000 more, much of it due to an influx of donations from Victory Fund and an affiliate, Kansas for a Diverse Voice at the Table, Wichita Eagle reports.
Because there is no Republican challenger, Finney's win means she will represent the central Wichita district.
Taylor told the Eagle last week that she feels hurt not because she lost, but because, she says, Finney used Taylor's sexuality against her to win.
Taylor said she raised about $19,000 for her campaign. Of that money, the Victory Fund raised about $15,000, Washington Blade reports.
In a late flurry of campaign materials, Finney focused on Taylor's out of state support. In a robo-call to voters Finney's campaign claimed that Taylor was supported by a "special-interest group with an unknown agenda."
Finney did not use the word "lesbian" in her speeches or official campaign advertising, but a series of unofficial e-mails and blog posts by supporters that followed the campaign calls left no doubt what the special interest was.
"She (Finney) never just came right out and said it," Taylor said. "But she pointed the finger and said, 'Look.' "
One Finney supporter who was not officially part of the campaign, blasted an email right after the official campaign calls started.
The email from Finney supporter Dr. Peggy Elliott said in part:
Taylor considers it an honor that if elected, she will be the 1st openly gay African American Legislator in the United States. If you will go to the www.victoryfund.com [sic] website, you will see that they are excited about the same and working strategically to ensure that this candidate wins the election . . . Who would she be representing? Those that fund her from the East Coast or 84th District? Is this what we want to be known for in Kansas? In Wichita?
"You expect that between parties," Taylor told Wichita Eagle. "You just don't expect it to come from inside the party."
Taylor, who has run for office before, said the financial support was about making sure she had enough money to get her message out.
"I wasn't running on, 'Hey, I'm gay,' " said Taylor."... It always has been about the issues."
Taylor also said she "absolutely" would have won the primary had Finney not resorted to those tactics, Washington Blade reports.
"Everything was fine -- we were working our tails off," she said. "I didn't start getting the hang up phone calls until after her stuff started."
Rick Stafford, chair of the Democratic National Committee's gay caucus, said "it's just really unacceptable and it's unforgivable" that a Democratic candidate would try to damage a gay opponent's campaign by mentioning sexual orientation, Washington Blade reports.
Victory Fund CEO Chuck Wolfe called the campaign "gutter politics at its worse" and called on Finney to apologize.
"We plan for and expect openly gay candidates will face attacks from right-wing bigots, not Democratic party officials," said Wolfe
But Kansas Equality Coalition's Witt had a different take on the situation and told the Washington Blade the Victory Fund's criticism of Finney is "completely over the line."
Last week, Witt issued a joint statement with Finney saying that the Victory Fund "used divisive tactics and out-of-state money to influence a Kansas election." The statement says the Victory Fund owes an apology to Kansas, Finney, the 84th District and gays.
"We categorically condemn the destructive tactics used by the Victory Fund," the statement says. "We know Gail Finney will be a strong advocate for civil rights for all Kansas."
In the statement, Finney says she issued the e-mail and the robo-call to express her concern about "the excessive influence of out-of-state money" in the campaign.
"It was never my intention to upset or offend anyone," she says.
The statement also says charges that Finney used sexual orientation as a wedge issue are untrue, and that the e-mail and the robo-call were "truthful and accurate," while the Victory Fund's messages were "untruthful and deceptive."
Witt charges that the Victory Fund "screwed up" Taylor's campaign, but Taylor, told Washington Blade that the Victory Fund "was nothing but helpful" in the race and it was Witt's early involvement as a campaign consultant that hurt her.
She questioned some of his early campaign decisions that, she said, wasted campaign funds.
Victory Fund spokesman Denis Dison said Witt's became dissatisfied after he was edged out of the campaign.
"After Victory Fund's political staff got involved in revising the plan, Mr. Witt decided to pull his support of the campaign and declined to do anything further to help Inga win," Dison said.
Source: 84th District race is over, but hard feelings linger | Wichita Eagle
Finney beats Taylor in 84th House District | Wichita Eagle
Victory Fund alleges anti-gay tactics in Kansas race | Washington Blade
Baited lesbian loses Kansas House primary | Advocate
Last modified: 15 Aug 08 11:11
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