Four gay candidates settle into office with Victory Fund help

Mike Gin is now mayor-elect of the small city of Redondo Beach, Calif., known for its community of surfers, small business owners, and low-key politics. But the last few weeks of the race for mayor turned out to be an often loud and dirty campaign, when a conservative Republican group launched a mailer campaign against the openly gay Gin--who's also a Republican. The organization, called the California Republican Assembly, attacked Gin for taking contributions from the Washington, D.C.-based Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and the Log Cabin Republicans of California, calling them groups interested in a "liberal gay rights agenda." Gin's opponent, local city council member Gerrard Bisingnano, spoke out against the mailers, saying he did not approve of them, but he also criticized Gin for taking out-of-state contributions. Gin, who is a former city council member, never attacked in turn. Instead he continued with a pledge to run a clean campaign. He won Tuesday night with a little more than 60% of the vote. His election joins three other wins by candidates who received support from the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. It contributed to newly elected Los Angeles city council member Bill Rosendahl; Dan Ryan, who won a seat on the Portland, Ore., school board; and Kevin Lee, who won his primary for the Lansdowne, Pa., borough council. Another candidate, Dan Miller, secured his spot for the general election in the Harrisburg, Pa., city council. (Sergio Quintana, Advocate/Sirius OutQ News)