Openly gay New York State Assemblyman
Danny O'Donnell is considering a run for Representative Charlie
Rangel's seat.
Rangel, who remains under investigation
by the House Ethics Committee over allegations he failed to report
hundreds of thousands of dollars on personal assets and income, has
yet to announce he'll seek re-election.
O'Donnell told the New York Post
Wednesday that he's prepared to act should the opportunity
materialize.
“I certainly like being a legislator,
I think I'm good at being a legislator; if a vacancy occurs in the
congressional district where I live, I will certainly consider it,”
O'Donnell said.
The forty-nine-year-old lawmaker played
a pivotal role in soft-selling the Assembly on a gay marriage law.
O'Donnell first pitched his gay marriage bill in 2007, telling the
chamber: “I want a license that all of you have; some of you had it
two or three times.”
O'Donnell says he would like to marry
the love of his life, John Banta, whom he met at Catholic University
in 1978.
If elected, he would join the chamber's
three openly gay representatives: Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Barney
Frank of Massachusetts and Jared Polis of Colorado.