Gay Candidates to Watch

The Victory Fund, a group that works to elect LGBT people to public office, has identified eight more aspiring politicians they hope to see sworn in shortly.

Among the list are big-city candidates and small-town upstarts. The Victory Fund is offering financial support and advice to Daniel Dromm and Rosie Mendez, running for New York City Council seats representing Queens and Manhattan, respectively. Ken Reeves, running for Cambridge, Mass., city council; Amaad Rivera, hoping to secure a seat on the Springfield, Mass., city council; and Fred Chang, running for the Port Orchard, Wash., city council, also have the Victory Fund's support.

The Victory Fund is also supporting Simone Bell, running for the Georgia house of representatives, and Eric Morrow, hoping to be elected to the East Point, Ga., city council.

David Cicilline, the gay mayor of Providence, R.I., running for reelection in November 2010, also has the Victory Fund's support. The other seven elections will all take place in 2009.

A total of 76 LGBT candidates have already been endorsed by the Victory Fund this year.