There is a lot of curious happenings in Salem, Massachusetts, and the North Shore for the next month — and it has nothing to do with Halloween, for once.
One of the most interesting and competitive Congressional races in the country is occurring in the MA 6th Congressional District, and the dynamics of the race are fascinating by any standard.
First, lets get the September 9 primary part of this out of the way — 18-year incumbent Congressman John Tierney lost in the Democratic primary to 35-year-old newcomer Seth Moulton. The upset was by a decent margin — 8 points to be exact.
So, there is that curious happening — which has many Dems in a tizzy — but that is for another time.
(As an aside, I want to state that I consulted to the Moulton campaign on election day for its voter protection and GOTV targeting efforts.)
Now, lets turn to the other curious happening in the race: the case of the gay Republican and the ensuing LGBT political boondoggle.
Richard Tisei is running on the Republican ticket for the Congressional seat. This will be Tisei’s second time running for the 6th District seat. In 2012, Tierney edged him out by only 1.2% points — 48.3% to 47.1% — it was a “wicked squeekah.”
Tisei is an openly gay Republican who is the former Minority Leader in the Massachusetts Senate and Republican Lt. Governor candidate with Charlie Baker in 2010. He’s 52, has a husband named Bernie, and together they own, Northrup Associates, one of the most successful real estate businesses on the North Shore. Bernie also has great sideburns, BTW.
While Tisei did not come out publicly until his run for Lt. Governor in 2010, it was an open secret in his district and within the Senate. He helped shepherd Republican and conservative Democratic votes to stop the repeal of gay marriage from going on the ballot during the battle in the Legislature. Tisei by all accounts is a solid statesman having been in the state legislature 1984-2010.
There is one or two hiccups is his resume that people point to when trying to counter Tisei’s happy-go-lucky gay Republican framework. During his early tenure in the State House, Tisei voted against pro-LGBT bills such as a gay adoption bill. That sucks. However, many electeds we support today were once against LGBT rights but are there now. We seek to change hearts and minds — and when we do I don’t think that we should hold the past against them. Move on.
Second hiccup: At the Republican Convention in 2010, Charlie Baker, in a last ditch effort to not let crazy Christie Mihos on the ballot for the Republican primary, some staffer pulled out the mimeograph machine backstage and made a flyer that said “Charlie Baker will Veto the Bathroom Bill if Passed.” The conservatives cheered and Mihos became a footnote in Republican history.
I was Political Director at MassEquality back then, and when got wind of these happenings, we beat Baker and Tisei over the head with it. Deval Patrick sent out an email saying he would sign the Transgender Civil Rights bill into law, the media swarmed the issue for a few days, the Republicans didn’t get their “convention bump” in the polls, and that Baker staffer very discreetly got fired. (Here is a link to a copy of the flyer.)
Was this Tisei’s idea? Likely not.
Was it his fault? No – it was his party’s fault.
Did he have any control over it? Likely not.
Should we hold it against him? Your choice.
Since this occurrence, Tisei has been an outspoken advocate in the Republican party to embrace gay marriage and a variety of other LGBT issues including ENDA. I personally saw him in action at the Northeast Republican Leadership Conference in New Hampshire earlier this year (I was on a Press Pass) when he told a roomful of Republicans that the party needed to evolve and embrace gay marriage — to which he got a rousing round of applause. He even skipped the Massachusetts Republican State Convention this year after the idiots put “traditional marriage” in its platform and spoke out against the inclusion of the exclusionary wording. Kudos.
The Ensuring LGBT Political Boondoggle:
There are many people in America that would love to see a gay Republican make his or her way to Capitol Hill. Many see it as a breaking of a “glass ceiling” in the Republican party including the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and the Log Cabin Republicans. Others just want it to happen because they think it would make conservative Republicans and Tea Partiers heads explode. Either way — there are a lot of people that want to see gay Republicans next to John Boehner.
While it is no surprise that the Log Cabin Republicans have endorsed Tisei’s run, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund have come out strong for Tisei and it has caused quite a stir. The Victory Fund is an organization in D.C. that exists to elect LGBT candidates across the country — and they do a good job at it. The Victory Fund helped many of the current Congressional LGBT Caucus get into office — including Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) and Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona).
However, because of the Victory Fund endorsement, Sinema and four other members of the Congressional LGBT Caucus signed a letter supporting Congressman John Tierney and signed up to co-host a DC fundraiser for Tierney on June 25, 2014.
Other LGBTs that supported the fundraiser were former Congressman Barney Frank staffers and former Bay Stater and HRC Executive Director Joe Solmonese.
All denoted believe that the Victory Fund shouldn’t have endorsed Tisei over Tierney who had a long record of voting the right way on LGBT issues. He had a 100% rating with the HRC. Former Congressman Barney Frank even sent emails and went out on the trail with Tierney to remind voters of Tierney’s record.
Again, turning to the Victory Fund’s mission — their goal is to elect LGBT candidates — not straight ones. So, the reason why they did endorse Tisei is no great mystery.
Now that Tierney’s Lost —:
So, after much wailing and renting of Marc Jacobs clothing — what are LGBT voters in the 6th and LGBT political organizations going to do now that Tierney has lost?
Many are still getting over the shock of the Tierney loss and are reticent to get to know Moulton for fear they might actually like him. Some are upset at Moulton for going negative on Tierney in the primary. Being negative in politics? I’ve never heard of such a thing!
Others in the district are turning their attention to Tisei because they do want to add another member to the LGBT Congressional Caucus. It would be a historic.
Still others are wary that Tisei is a straw man and will inevitably vote exactly the way Speaker Boehner wants him to so he can get plum committee assignments and a better office. A better office is always an enticement for a Freshman legislator, who wants a basement office with no good lighting.
Whatever happens — the predilections of the LGBT vote, which is significant voting block in the district, is a great question awaiting an answer.
However, one thing is certain — all of these curious happenings are guaranteed to keep many atwitter until November 4.
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Dee Dee Edmondson, Esq. is a political, strategic communications, and government relations consultant under Edmondson Strategies, LLC. She represents the Gun Owners Action League of Massachusetts and has worked on many Democratic campaigns, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, and Cong. Stephen Lynch. Dee Dee is the former Political Director at MassEquality and is an elected member to the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee holding an LGBT seat.
