Openly gay presidential hopeful Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, has jumped to a double-digit (11%) third-place ranking in a new Iowa poll.
Eleven percent of likely Democratic Iowa caucus goers surveyed by Emerson Polling said they would pick Buttigieg to be their 2020 presidential nominee.
Overall, Buttigieg placed third behind Former Vice President Joe Biden, at 25 percent, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), at 24 percent.
The only other candidate to receive double-digit support was Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who was the choice for 10 percent of respondents.
“The biggest surprise in this poll is Mayor Pete, last week we saw him inching up in our national poll, and now he’s in double digits in Iowa, America is going to be asking who is ‘Mayor Pete’?” Spencer Kimball, director of the Emerson Poll, said.
Buttigieg, who has formed an exploratory committee but has not officially declared, was polling at 0 percent in Emerson’s January survey of Iowa, which shows his recognition and support have grown significantly in the last few months.
Out Mayor Pete Buttigieg has already qualified for the Democratic LGBTQ Forum
For the first time in ten years, Democratic presidential candidates will share their policy positions and views on LGBTQ issues at a debate to be hosted by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Scheduled for October 10, coinciding with National Coming Out Day, the event will be held on UCLA campus.
The topics will range from hate crimes, transgender rights, so-called ‘conversion therapy’ and more.
To qualify for participation, a candidate needs to poll at least 1% in three separate national polls, OR receive campaign donations from over 65,000 people in at least 20 states.
As Instinct recently reported, openly Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, has already crossed that threshold.
The forum will be one of 12 debates to be held during the Democratic primary season leading up to the 2020 election.
The last forum sponsored by the HRC took place in 2008 with then-candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinish and Bill Richardson.
It’s notable that LGBTQ issues have shifted substantially since then.
• In 2008, 55% felt “same-sex relations between consenting adults should be legal.” In 2018, that figure has reached 75% support.
• In 2008, only 40% of those polled agreed that “marriages between same-sex couples should be recognized by the law as valid.” In 2018, that figure had risen to 67% support.
There hasn’t been a Republican presidential debate on LGBTQ issues.
As NBC News points out, LGBTQ Americans have traditionally voted for Democrats in presidential elections.
According to an NBC News exit poll last November, 82 percent of LGBTQ voters cast a ballot for their district’s Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives.
And in 2016, 78 percent of LGBTQ voters cast a ballot for the Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton.)
New polling by Morning Consult (over 13,000 interviews with registered voters planning to vote) show former Vice President Joe Biden continues to lead as the choice for Democratic candidate for president in 2020.
The recent polling showed Biden edging up 4 points nationally, and 6 points in early primary states.
Biden currently polls 35% among all Dems with Sen. Bernie Sanders coming in second at 27%.
The nearest contenders after the two leaders are Sen. Kamala Harris and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke coming in with 8% each.
Nevada’s Democratic Senate Majority Leader Kelvin Atkinson resigned from his legislative seat on Tuesday in an emotional speech telling his colleagues he would plead guilty to charges of using campaign funds for personal use, according to The Nevada Independent.
It was recently discovered that Atkinson had misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds for personal use.
Misuse of campaign funds is a state and federal crime which carries a possible prison sentence of 20 years.
“I am embarrassed, I am ashamed and I am truly, truly sorry,” Atkinson said a tear-filled speech from the floor of the Senate. “I pray for your forgiveness.”
“I hope to have the opportunity to prove someday that this is not who I am, just something I did wrong,” said the 49-year-old former lawmaker.
“I have no one to blame but myself,” he added. “I just pray that someday I will have the opportunity to contribute to my community once again in a meaningful way.”
Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak publicly denounced Atkinson’s deeds in a statement Tuesday morning.
“I am extremely disappointed in the news that Kelvin Atkinson misappropriated campaign funds for his personal use,” the governor said. “This admitted violation of the law goes against the integrity every elected officer in the state of Nevada should uphold.”
“Saddened and disappointed” were the words used by the executive director of the Nevada Senate Democratic Caucus, Cheryl Bruce.
Atkinsons’s deputy, state Sen. Nicole Cannizzaro, is reported to replaced him. She will be Nevada’s first female Senate Majority Leader.
First elected to the Nevada state Assembly in 2002, Atkinson joined the Senate in 2012. He was the Silver state’s first openly gay Senate leader, and only the third African American to hold the position.
Atkinson famously came out during a 2013 debate in the Senate regarding repealing Nevada’s ban on same-sex marriage.
The following year, he and his husband were among the first same-sex couples to be married in Nevada.
As a proud gay Democratic Nevadan, living in Las Vegas for 15 years, I’m disgusted that Atkinson would be so unethical.
There are no excuses for such a blatant disregard for the law and personal integrity.
I am appreciative that Atkinson seems to be taking full responsibility for his actions, but it’s reprehensible that he so flagrantly broke the law.
Everyone has to follow the law, but being a minority and gay means having to work twice as hard to succeed. Any and all episodes like this only set us further back.
Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey announced today that he is throwing his hat in the ring to become the Democratic nominee for president in 2020.
In a video on Twitter, Booker intoned the spirit of the civil rights movement, on this first day of Black History Month, as he shared his vision for a country that will “channel our common pain back into our common purpose.”
“The history of our nation is defined by collective action; by interwoven destinies of slaves and abolitionists; of those born here and those who chose America as home; of those who took up arms to defend our country, and those who linked arms to challenge and change it,” said Booker in the video.
The 49-year-old former mayor joins an already-crowded field of Democrats vying for the 2020 nomination including Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand, Representative Tulsi Gabbard, former HUD Secretary Julián Castro, and Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
The folks at NJ.com served up this quick video on Booker’s personal history.
According to The Washington Post, Democrats plan to pass a stopgap spending bill that would fund the Department of Homeland Security through February 8.
The Homeland Security bill will match the one passed by the Republican-controlled Senate before Christmas which includes $1.3 billion for border fencing and other security measures.
Six other funding bills are also in the pipeline to fund closed portions of the federal government through September 30.
It looks like Donald Trump got the memo. The Trumpster launched into another Twitter rant on the subject this morning.
He keeps saying Democrats should get back to Washington, but technically Paul Ryan is still the Speaker of the House.
Just saying…
I campaigned on Border Security, which you cannot have without a strong and powerful Wall. Our Southern Border has long been an “Open Wound,” where drugs, criminals (including human traffickers) and illegals would pour into our Country. Dems should get back here an fix now!
I’m in the Oval Office. Democrats, come back from vacation now and give us the votes necessary for Border Security, including the Wall. You voted yes in 2006 and 2013. One more yes, but with me in office, I’ll get it built, and Fast!
It’s incredible how Democrats can all use their ridiculous sound bite and say that a Wall doesn’t work. It does, and properly built, almost 100%! They say it’s old technology – but so is the wheel. They now say it is immoral- but it is far more immoral for people to be dying!
By the way, that part about being “in the Oval Office?” Looks like it was another lie. White House reporter Brian Karem noted that there’s no Marine standing guard outside the Oval Office which is normal protocol when the president is in the West Wing.
As the last races of the 2018 midterms are finally coming to a close, there’s more good news for the Democrats.
Two more seats in the House of Representatives have been flipped to blue:
Democrat Jared Golden, a U.S. Marine veteran, defeated two-term Republican Representative Bruce Poliquin in Maine’s Second District.
This was the state’s first use of ranked-choice balloting in a congressional race proved consequential.
After the first round of vote counts, Poliquin lead but no candidate had a majority. Under ranked-choice voting, the lowest-choice candidates were eliminated and their votes reallocated to their second choices.
Golden, it turns out, was the second choice in more of the lower-choice candidates than Poliquin. That meant Golden for the win.
.@golden4congress has just flipped a seat in Maine from red to blue! We’re proud to have invested in Jared’s race to help reach Mainers all over ME-02. RT to congratulate Jared on his win! pic.twitter.com/m1Xdke1utX
And Democrat Katie Porter upset anti-LGBT Republican Mimi Walters in Southern California’s Reagan country.
While in the California Assembly, Walters supported the anti-marriage equality Prop 8. And in the House, she voted against LGBT protections for federal employees.
Good riddance.
Democrats now have won five GOP seats in California, and Republicans are being threatened in another race that still is too close to call. Porter’s victory is a sign of changing times in Orange County, once known nationally as a GOP stronghold but now increasingly Democratic.
As a member of the California Assembly, Mimi Walters endorsed Prop 8 and voted against the ban on ex-gay torture. In the US House, she voted against protections for LGBT employees of federal contractors. And that’s just a start.
Flip alert: @katieporteroc just flipped one of the most competitive seats in the country blue! RT to congratulate Congresswoman-elect Porter on her win. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/MzOavMRU8l
In honor of Pride Month (which began today), the Democratic National Committee issued this statement today:
“Pride Month is an opportunity to celebrate the vast contributions LGBTQ Americans have made to our society, to honor the generations of leaders and activists who have fought for equality, and to rededicate ourselves to the work that remains.
“We see the impact of LGBTQ Americans throughout our history. We see it in the hope of Harvey Milk and the trailblazing work of Pauli Murray. We see it in the courageous leadership of Bayard Rustin and the pioneering career of Sally Ride. We see it in the brilliant performances of Laverne Cox, the athletic dominance of Abby Wambach, and the indomitable spirit of the late Edie Windsor.
“Under President Obama, our nation continued its long march toward LGBTQ equality. We ended Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and we fought for transgender equality in schools, military service, health care, and public accommodations. Today, hospitals receiving Medicare or Medicaid funds must extend visitation rights to LGBTQ patients. Across the country, violence against LGBTQ individuals can now be prosecuted as federal hate crimes. And of course, marriage equality is now the law of the land.
“We’ve made incredible progress for LGBTQ rights, and we’ve seen LGBTQ candidates achieve historic victories up and down the ballot. But LGBTQ Americans still face hurdles to equality across our society – from bathrooms to bakeries to the ballot box. Every day, Republicans in Congress, the White House, and at the state and local level are trying to turn back the clock on LGBTQ rights.
“The Democratic Party stands with LGBTQ communities in America and around the world. We believe that no one should face discrimination, bullying, or violence because of who they are or who they love. And we will never stop fighting for the equality every human being deserves.”
As you may recall, while Donald Trump took time to recognize Great Outdoors Month, National Ocean Month, National Caribbean-American Heritage Month, African-American Music Appreciation Month, and National Homeownership Month, there was NO presidential proclamation for Pride Month.
Trump has, however, issued a ban on transgender people in the U.S. military after announcing via Twitter they would not be able to serve “in any capacity” in the armed forces.
Additionally, there have been executive actions in the name of “religious freedom” that make anti-LGBT discrimination easier and the Justice Department now excludes LGBT people from the enforcement of federal civil rights law.
Don’t hold your breathe for any change in LGBT policy from the Trump White House.
President Obama issued a presidential Pride Month proclamation every year of his administration.
Only hours before a possible shutdown of the federal government, a new poll shows the Republicans would bear the brunt of responsibility for the ensuing debacle.
Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton reaches out to fellow Democrats just a day before the party is set to elect it’s next party chair.
During the three minute video, Clinton rallies the Dems for the work and elections that lie ahead.
“Ideas we championed are now inspiring leaders and activists across our country. Nearly sixty-six million votes are fueling grass roots energy and activism.
“And everywhere people are marching, protesting, tweeting, speaking out and working for an America that’s hopeful, inclusive and big-hearted.
“We as Democrats must move forward with courage, confidence and optimism, and stay focused on the elections we must win this year and next,” she said. “Let resistance plus persistence equal progress for our party and our country.”
