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LOU CHIBBARO J
Friday, July 11, 2008
D.C.
Congressional
Del.
Eleanor
Holmes
Norton
and
At-Large
D.C.
City
Council
member
Kwame
Brown,
both
strong
supporters
of
gay
rights,
are
running
unopposed
in
the
city’s
Sept.
9
Democratic
primary.
While
another
four
Democratic
members
of
the
Council
face
challengers
in
the
primary,
most
political
observers
say
the
four
incumbents
—
Jack
Evans
(D-Ward
2),
Muriel
Bowser
(D-Ward
4),
Yvette
Alexander
(D-Ward
7)
and
Marion
Barry
(D-Ward
8)
—
are
odds-on
favorites
to
win
the
primary
and
the
general
election
in
November.
The
Council’s
lone
Republican
member,
Carol
Schwartz
(R-At-Large),
is
being
challenged
in
the
city’s
GOP
primary
by
newcomer
Patrick
Mara,
who
has
surprised
City
Hall
insiders
by
raising
more
money
than
any
past
Republican
challenger
prior
to
a
city
primary.
Republican
Party
Chair
Bob
Kabel,
who
is
gay,
has
predicted
that
Schwartz
will
win
the
primary
because
most
of
the
city’s
registered
Republicans
view
Schwartz
as
a
champion
for
the
cause
of
good
government.
But
Mara’s
backers
say
the
33-year-old
newcomer
to
D.C.
politics
might
pull
off
an
upset
victory,
although
they
acknowledge
he
faces
an
uphill
race.
With
few
surprises
expected
in
the
Council
races,
many
of
the
city’s
political
activists
are
looking
toward
a
part
of
the
Sept.
9
primary
that
has
received
little
or
no
media
attention
so
far:
the
race
for
“shadow”
U.S.
senator
and
the
individual
races
for
48
seats
on
the
D.C.
Democratic
State
Committee,
the
governing
body
of
the
city’s
dominant
Democratic
Party.
Gay
men
have
surfaced
as
leading
forces
in
both
of
those
contests.
Veteran
D.C.
gay
Democratic
activist
Phil
Pannell
is
challenging
incumbent
“shadow”
Sen.
Paul
Strauss,
who
has
held
the
shadow
seat
for
nearly
12
years.
And
Pannell
and
Jeff
Richardson,
the
gay
vice
chair
of
the
D.C.
Democratic
State
Committee,
are
leading
an
insurgent
slate
of
State
Committee
candidates.
The
insurgent
slate,
which
calls
itself
Obama4UnityBeatsMcCain,
are
challenging
the
leadership
of
State
Committee
Chair
and
veteran
D.C.
political
activist
Anita
Bonds.
Richardson
is
running
as
part
of
the
insurgent
slate
for
an
at-large
seat
on
the
State
Committee.
Pannell
is
running
for
a
seat
for
the
committee
in
Ward
8,
where
Pannell
has
served
as
a
longtime
political
activist.
“Our
main
objective
is
to
push
for
voting
rights
for
the
District
of
Columbia,
something
that
the
State
Committee
has
neglected
to
do,”
Pannell
said.
He
said
his
reason
for
challenging
Strauss
is
also
due
to
what
Pannell
says
has
been
Strauss’s
failure
to
push
harder
and
in
a
more
visible
way
for
the
cause
of
providing
D.C.
with
two
voting
senators
and
at
least
one
voting
member
of
the
House
of
Representatives
in
Congress.
Strauss
could
not
be
reached
for
comment
by
press
time.
His
gay
backers
have
said
Strauss
has
a
strong
record
of
support
on
gay
rights
and
he
has
pushed
for
D.C.
voting
rights
causes.
If
Richardson’s
and
Pannell’s
Obama4UnityBeatsMcCain
slate
wins,
some
State
Committee
observers
say
Richardson
would
have
a
shot
at
becoming
the
new
chair
of
the
State
Committee,
becoming
the
first
openly
gay
person
to
hold
that
post.
With
few
voters
familiar
with
the
State
Committee
candidates
running
in
the
September
primary,
Pannell
said
gay
Democrats
could
play
a
key
role
if
they
turn
out
in
large
number
to
vote
for
Pannell
and
Richardson’s
slate.
The
Gertrude
Stein
Democratic
Club,
the
city’s
largest
gay
political
group,
has
yet
to
make
endorsements
for
State
Committee
members.
Pannell
won
a
majority
of
votes
among
club
members
for
his
race
for
shadow
senator,
but
he
failed
to
obtain
the
60
percent
majority
needed
for
a
Stein
Club
endorsement.
The
city
created
its
two
“shadow”
Senate
seats
and
one
“shadow”
House
seat
in
the
early
1980s
as
a
means
of
promoting
D.C.
statehood.
The
seats
have
no
congressional
powers
and
come
with
no
salaries.
With
Congress
unlikely
to
approve
D.C.
as
the
nation’s
51st
state
any
time
soon,
the
shadow
representatives
have
since
turned
their
attention
to
promoting
voting
representation
for
D.C.
in
Congress.
But
Pannell
and
others
backing
Pannell’s
candidacy
believe
the
city’s
political
establishment
hasn’t
been
aggressive
enough
in
pushing
Congress
to
approve
a
bill
that
would
give
Norton,
the
city’s
non-voting
congressional
delegate,
a
full
vote
in
the
House
of
Representatives.
Opponents
of
the
bill have
argued
that
Congress
doesn’t
have
the
authority
to
grant
voting
representation
for
D.C.
and
an
amendment
to
the
U.S.
constitution
is
needed
to
provide
D.C.
with voting
members in
either
the
House
or
Senate.
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