Following the previous post, I heard from Brad Swanson, who is running against Rose Ferlita for the Republican nomination. Here is what he had to say:
"Facts are facts. Every opportunity that the gay agenda has come up before my opponent, Rose, she has supported it. It has been long rumored that she is gay. Whether she is or not, she needs to explain to Republican voters why she votes so hard for the gay agenda. She is a liberal on every issue, from raising taxes [to social issues.] This is one example of her showing her strength as a liberal. The coordination [between her campaign and the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered community] I feel is out there. I am already receiving harassment calls from the gay community. But I will say this, we have received many more very supportive calls from Republicans … that have been very supportive of the voters knowing about the facts."
I also asked Swanson about the source of his contention that the "local gay community" had endorsed Ferlita. He cited an online posting by Brandon Pride president Mark Ferguson in which Ferguson said he was "supporting" Ferlita's candidacy. It was neither an endorsement nor claimed to be representing the local gay community.
It looks a flimsy excuse to call someone a lesbian. While this tactic would be money in a countywide race, Ferlita and Swanson are running in Kathy Castor's District 1 seat, which covers Westchase, Town N Country, South Tampa, Gibsonton, Riverview, Apollo Beach and Ruskin. Much of the district is decidedly less right-wing than the core conservative regions of eastern and southern Hillsborough.
Oh, and look for a St. Petersburg Times story on this in the morning. Swanson gave an interview to Janet Zink from that paper.
This article appears in Jul 19-25, 2006.