A South Florida district will consider
Tuesday whether to send an openly gay man to represent them in
Congress.
It will be sink or swim for Scott
Galvin, a North Miami city councilman for more than a decade, when he
faces off against eight Democrats vying for their party's District 17
nomination. The district covers Miami's Little Haiti and several
Broward County suburbs.
The district's heavily-Democratic
leanings virtually assure Tuesday's primary winner a trip to
Washington. The Democratic candidate will face an independent
challenger in the fall, but no Republican.
Speaking to gay
weekly the Washington
Blade, Galvin said he's “feeling very excited” about his
prospects.
South Florida gay rights group SAVE
Dade and the Gay
& Lesbian Victory Fund, a group that supports openly gay
elected officials, have endorsed Galvin's candidacy.
“Scott is a very strong candidate,”
CJ Ortuno, executive director of SAVE Dade, told On Top Magazine
in an email.
Ortuno explained that the nine-person
field could work in Galvin's favor.
“With such a crowded field and no
run-off, Scott has a real chance. He's also been the
second-strongest fund raiser since he's been in the race,” Ortuno
added.
Galvin's campaign was marred in July
when half-a-dozen
yard signs in northeast North Miami were found defaced with the word
“fag.”
“There were those who found out that
I was gay for the first time and weren't aware and there were those
who obviously didn't care and were actually motivated more by it,”
Galvin, who came out gay in 2004, told the Blade.
Currently, only three openly gay
representatives serve in the House. In addition to Galvin, two more
openly gay candidates – David
Cicilline of Rhode Island's District 1 and Steve
Pougnet of California's District 45 – are vying for a House
seat.