At its first general meeting as San Diego Democrats for Equality (SDDE), the former San Diego Democratic Club endorsed the campaign of Congressman Bob Filner to be San Diego’s next Mayor. “The club looked at the questionnaires submitted by several candidates, listened to the two who attended the meeting and considered all of the records,” according to Craig Roberts, vice president for Political Action, “In the end, it became clear to an overwhelming majority of club members that Bob Filner was the LGBT candidate for the office.” Filner received a 100 percent-positive rating on the questionnaire.
According to Roberts, all candidates in non-partisan races, regardless of party affiliation, are sent questionnaires. Those who complete the questionnaire are invited to participate in the candidate forum. Bonnie Dumanis, Carl DeMaio and Nathan Fletcher all declined to participate. In response to questioning from former president, Gloria Johnson, Filner said that he probably made a few mistakes in his long voting career in the House of Representatives. He admitted that his vote for the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 was a mistake and credited the club for immediately and forcefully teaching him about the gravity of it. He went on to say that with the club’s help, his views had evolved and that he is now a consistent vote for marriage equality.
“While the other candidates point to one or two votes on non-binding resolutions as evidence of the level of their commitment to the community,” Democrats for Equality President Doug Case said. “Filner has voted for and/or co-sponsored the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, the Respect for Marriage Act [to repeal DOMA], the Military Readiness Enhancement Act and the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010 [both of which to repeal DADT-the latter succeeding], the Uniting American Families Act [to provide LGBT citizens with a non-citizen partner equal rights to sponsor that partner for entry into the US], the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009, and the Every Child Deserves a Family Act. Also, as a leader on San Diego’s City Council prior to election to Congress, it was Bob Filner who put together the majority Council vote that created the current Third Council District that led to LGBT leaders like Chris Kehoe, Toni Atkins and Todd Gloria who have managed to represent their constituents and fought for LGBT equality.”
The Club also unanimously voted to endorse Assemblyman Marty Block in his bid to succeed Christine Kehoe (who will be leaving due to term limits) as state senator for the 39th Senate District. Block, who spoke to the Club about his plans and accomplishments, pointed to four of his pieces of legislation all of which were signed into law by Governor Brown at the end of the 2011 Assembly session, including AB 620 which requires public colleges and universities to add sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression to campus anti-discrimination policies on harassment, intimidation, and bullying in their student codes of conduct. Democrats for Equality voted not to endorse in the 79th Assembly District race. “Both Sid Voorakkara and Shirley Weber were rated as 100% on our questionnaires and they spoke eloquently about the plans and qualifications for the Assembly,” said Roberts. “Because both candidates were so good, neither received the 60% required for endorsement. While we think the district would be exceptionally well served by either, the club voted no endorsement rather than both ‘acceptable’ to preserve an option to reconsider the endorsement early next year after the race has developed more.”
