Election Roundup

Democratic and progressive candidates and causes received mixed results following Tuesday’s elections.

In elections of particular interest to the Black gay community, political newcomer Jass Stewart lost his race for Mayor of Brockton, Massachusetts to City Council President James Harrington by a 56 percent to 44 percent margin. Despite an endorsement by the local newspaper and a strong finish in a four candidate primary, Stewart failed in his bid to become that city’s first Black and first openly gay mayor.

Norfolk, Virginia voters also failed to elect Virginia Paige as that city’s Treasurer. In a four candidate race, Paige came in second with 31 percent of the vote. Paige was a Black, openly lesbian candidate, who had been the target of smear tactics by unknown opponents.

In Albany, New York, author and activist Barbara Smith easily won her race for City Council from the city’s 4th District, trouncing her opponent by 642 votes.

Voters in Maine defeated an effort to repeal the state’s new gay rights law Tuesday with supporters of the law declaring victory shortly after 11 p.m. when unofficial totals showed 55 percent rejecting the repeal and 45 percent in favor, with 86 percent of precincts reporting.

A different story down south however, as Texans voted overwhelmingly to bolster the state’s ban on same-sex marriage by writing it into the state constitution, rejecting concerns that the broadly worded amendment could go much further than intended.

The measure swept most of the state’s major urban counties, including Dallas and Tarrant. Overall, the amendment, Proposition 2 on the statewide ballot, prevailed by about a 3-to-1 ratio as voters decided nine amendments.

In a sharp repudiation of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Californians rejected all four of his ballot proposals Tuesday in an election that shattered his image as an agent of the popular will.

Voters turned down his plans to curb state spending, redraw California’s political map, restrain union politics and lengthen the time it takes teachers to get tenure. Voters also rejected four other statewide initiatives, including one requiring parental approval for a minor’s abortion.

Virginians elected Democrat Timothy M. Kaine yesterday as the state’s next governor, choosing him to continue the centrist legacy of popular Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) and rejecting the Republican candidate for the state’s top job a second time in four years.

With stunning ease, Democrat Jon Corzine was elected governor of New Jersey yesterday, defeating Republican Doug Forrester in a campaign that turned out to be the most expensive and negative the state has ever seen.

With more than 97 percent of voting districts reporting, Corzine had garnered more than 1.1 million votes, or 53 percent to Forrester’s 44 percent.

And New York City voters returned incumbent Republican Michael Bloomberg to the mayor’s office. The billionaire businessman defeated Democratic challenger and former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer by a 59 to 39 percent margin.