According to a CNN exit poll, the
Republican party attracted more gay voters in the midterm elections
than in previous election cycles of the past decade.
The number of self-identified gay
voters favoring GOP candidates on Tuesday jumped to a record 31
percent, up 4 points from 2008's presidential election. That's
higher than in 2006 (24%) and 2004 (23%). Approximately 3 percent of
respondents identified as gay.
“The gay left would have you believe
that gay conservatives don't exist,” Jimmy LaSalvia, executive
director of GOProud, told POLITICO.com.
“Now we see that almost a third of
self-identified gay voters cast ballots for Republican candidates for
Congress in this year's midterm,” he said.
LaSalvia said the results should serve
as a “wake-up call” to gay rights groups which have “become
little more than a subsidiary of the Democrat Party.”
Anti-Democratic sentiment has been
brewing since President Obama arrived in Washington. While the
president has been criticized by anti-gay groups for his support of
gay rights, many in the gay community feel pandered to. Obama's
commitment to gay rights, especially repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't
Tell,” the law that bans gay and bisexual troops from serving
openly, is being openly questioned by gay leaders.
The president recently defended his
record. In
a rare interview with the gay media conducted just days before the
midterm elections, the president reject the notion that he's lukewarm
on gay rights.
Obama said he's been as supportive as
possible on repeal of the military ban “given that Congress had
explicitly passed a law designed to tie my hand on the issue.”
“And so, I'll be honest with you, I
don't think that the disillusionment is justified,” he said.