Gay GOP group GOProud
has endorsed Carly Fiorina, an opponent of gay marriage, over
moderate Republican Tom Campbell, who supports the institution, in
the fight to oust Senator Barbara Boxer, a three-term Democrat from
California.
“Carly Fiorina is the candidate
conservatives can trust,” Jimmy LaSalvia, executive director of
GOProud, said in his endorsement.
The group has been critical of
Campbell, a former congressman. In a 30-second web ad released in
April, the group attacked Campbell for “increasing taxes on
California families.”
The group says it favors Fiorina
despite her public opposition to gay marriage because she has pledged
not to raise taxes. Campbell has refused to sign the Taxpayer
Protection Pledge, explaining that “you don't know what the future
is going to be.”
In supporting Fiorina, GOProud finds
itself in agreement with an unlikely ally: The National Organization
for Marriage (NOM), the nation's most vociferous opponent of gay
marriage. The group is spending $300,000 in the state on ads
attacking Campbell for his support of gay marriage. NOM says it can
wrench primary votes away from Campbell because the majority of
Republicans are unaware that he supports gay marriage.
This is NOM's first major outing in
California since it led the effort to pass Proposition 8 –
California's gay marriage ban – in November of 2008.
In an email to On Top Magazine,
LaSalvia explained that Campbell must be judged on national issues,
not state issues such as California's gay marriage ban.
“Prop 8 was and is a state issue and
we agree strongly with Rep. Campbell on Prop 8,” LaSalvia said
earlier this year. “However, the totality of his record on issues
of importance to gay conservatives – particularly his record on
taxes and foreign policy – is abysmal.”
While polling suggests Campbell would
make a stronger opponent to Boxer in the fall, former Hewlett-Packard
CEO Fiorina currently leads in the contest to win the Republican
nomination. In March, Campbell held a narrow lead.
“We expect her to continue her
momentum and win the GOP nomination,” LaSalvia added.
Senator Boxer, a Democrat, supports
giving gay and lesbian couples the right to marry. Fiorina says she
supports California's domestic partnership law but believes in the
“sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.”