District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and Councilman Carl DeMaio are gay, Republican and campaigning to run San Diego, America's eighth-largest city, the AP reported.

San Diego has had Republican mayors for nearly 20 years.

Sexual orientation hasn't been an issue for either candidate on the campaign trail.

“People get to know that our lives are the same as their lives,” Dumanis, 59, said. “It's easier to hate a stereotype than it is a person. I make a point of introducing Denise wherever I go.”

“[Sexual] orientation is not an issue. It's a not a plus or a minus,” DeMaio, 36, said.

DeMaio, however, has been criticized for not speaking out against Proposition 8, California's gay marriage ban, and for answering that he's single in a questionnaire for The San Diego Union-Tribune, despite a two-year relationship with Jonathan Hale, publisher of San Diego Gay & Lesbian News.

A third leading contender for the GOP nomination is state Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, 34, a Marine combat veteran and a strong gay rights ally. Fletcher was the only Assembly Republican to vote for a bill that requires California public schools teach about the historical contributions of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.

The Democratic candidate is California Rep. Bob Filner, a former San Diego councilman.