National
Gay House, Senate candidates running strong
Numbers show Baldwin, others winning fundraising battles
U.S. Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Gay and lesbian candidates for the U.S. House and Senate are competitive with — and in some cases besting — their straight opponents when it comes to raising money.
Fundraising numbers for the fourth quarter of 2011 and the year in total became public earlier this month after candidates submitted their campaign filings in accordance with federal election law.
Rep. Tammy Baldwin, who’s seeking to become the first openly gay U.S. senator, made a particularly impressive showing in the final quarter in her bid to represent Wisconsin in the Senate by taking in $1.16 million.
The fourth quarter haul means the Democrat and seven-term House member raised $2.5 million last year for her Senate campaign. She has $1.8 million in cash on hand.
Phillip Walzak, a Baldwin spokesperson, said the number demonstrates the strength of her campaign.
“These figures demonstrate the strength of Tammy’s grassroots campaign, and the depth of support for her message to stand up for our shared values, and put the people ahead of right-wing radicals and corporate special interests,” Walzak said.
Nathan Gonzales, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report, said Baldwin won’t “lose the Senate race because she doesn’t have enough money,” although it remains a toss-up and could be “one the top general elections in the country.”
Gonzales added he doesn’t think Baldwin’s sexual orientation will factor into the race heading into the general election.
“I see Republicans talking about her just being from Madison and how being a liberal Democrat from Madison puts her out of touch with the rest of the state rather than making her sexuality an issue,” Gonzales said.
Republican candidates in the race don’t come close to Baldwin in fundraising. Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson raised $657,000 and has $544,000 in cash on hand. Former congressman and gubernatorial candidate Mark Neumann raised $826,000 and has $552,000 in cash on hand.
Denis Dison, spokesperson for the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, said Baldwin has “lapped everybody in the field” of Republicans.
“They’re going to be spending that money in the primary,” Dison said. “This is going to be a pretty ugly primary on the Republican side. They’re really going to have to spend all the way to win their nomination.”
Democrat Mark Takano, a gay public school teacher and member of the Riverside Community College District’s Board of Trustees, is also on top in fundraising for the race to represent California’s newly created 41st congressional district — although by a much slimmer margin.
Takano has raised $288,000 in total and has $212,000 in cash on hand. The Republican in the race, Riverside County Supervisor John Tavaglione has raised $275,000 and has $177,000 in cash on hand.
Gonzales said he thinks the race will be “competitive” in the general election, but added that Takano has the advantage.
“I think Republicans looking at numbers think there may be an opportunity there in a mid-term election,” Gonzales said. “In the presidential race where the president is going to do very well in the state, overall, I think, Takano has the edge.”
Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Rep. David Cicilline, whom many thought would face a tough re-election campaign because of his unpopularity in the polls, is also outraising his Republican opponents and faces no Democratic challenger.
The Rhode Island Democrat has raised a total of $949,000 and has $518,000 in cash on hand. Republican businessman and former law enforcement official Brendan Doherty has raised $617,000 and has $482,000 in cash on hand.
Cicilline nose-dived in the polls last year because he was seen as less than forthcoming about the troubled finances of Providence, R.I., during his tenure as mayor prior to his election to the U.S. House.
The city of 178,000 faced a $110 million projected budget deficit and the rainy-day fund diminished from more than $22.3 million three years ago to less than $221,000, according to a report last year from Politico.
Gonzales said Cicilline’s problem in the general election won’t be money, but his approval rating, and predicted the race will be competitive even though Rhode Island is considered a Democratic state.
“If voters are focused on Cicilline’s record in Congress, then he’ll probably be fine for re-election, if they’re focused on his time as mayor and how they feel about how he described his tenure when he was running for Congress, then his re-election becomes a much dicier proposition,” Gonzales said.
Dison said he thinks Cicilline will do better than expected in the fall because his district was altered during the redistricting process to become even more Democratic.
“It would be very tough for a Republican to win that seat, unless there is a Republican wave out there,” Dison said. “But even in the last election, which was obviously a Republican wave, he won the district pretty handily.”
Other gay candidates aren’t ahead in fundraising, but are still doing well enough to remain competitive in their races.
U.S. House candidate Mark Pocan (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Democrat Mark Pocan, a gay member of the State Assembly seeking the U.S. House seat Baldwin is vacating at the end of the year, has raised $274,000 and has $204,000 in cash on hand.
But it’s less money than David Worzala, another Democrat and the Dane County Treasurer. The candidate has raised $278,000 and has $252,196 in cash on hand.
Dison said Worzala’s lead in fundraising is misleading because the candidate loaned himself $170,000 and Pocan actually doubled and tripled what the other candidate raised.
“In terms of fundraising, he’s not doing very well raising money from individual donors, whereas Pocan is doing very well both from political action committees and individuals,” Dison said.
Dison added that Pocan’s endorsements are “overwhelming” and said every major Democrat and union has backed the gay candidate in the race.
Both candidates in this race are ahead of Kelda Roys, another Democratic member of the State Assembly, who’s raised $147,000 and has $128,828 in cash on hand.
In Massachusetts, gay Republican Richard Tisei, a former member of the Massachusetts Legislature and former candidate for lieutenant governor, is behind in his bid to unseat Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.), but still has sizable funds.
Tisei has raised $311,559 and has $260,000 in cash on hand, but the incumbent Tierney, running in the strongly Democratic state, raised $577,545 and has $546,000 in cash on hand.
But looking just at the fourth quarter, Tisei bested Tierney in terms of fundraising. The Republican raised $311,558, almost all the fundraising for his campaign, in that quarter, while Tierney raised $161,105. Another Republican in the race, attorney and businessman Bill Hudak, dropped out of the race after the fundraising totals were announced.
Gonzales said the Democrat is favored and that it will be tough for any Republican, but said there may be a chance to do better than expected in the race.
“It’s still a Democratic district, but because of questions, ethical questions surrounding Tierney, or more specifically, his family, I think there’s an opportunity,” Gonzales said.
Dison said the seat became more winnable for a Republican with redistricting and the major question in the race is the extent to which the Republican Party rallies behind Tisei in the general election.
“The question will be whether the Republican committees here in town see that as a possible pick up, and if they do, then they’re going to get behind him and spend a lot of money there,” Dison said.
According to Politico, Tierney’s brother-in-law, Daniel Eremian, was convicted of federal racketeering charges related to his operation of an illegal offshore casino. Additionally, Patrice Tierney, the lawmaker’s wife and Eremian’s sister, last year was sentenced to one month in prison and five months of house arrest after pleading guilty to charges that she aided in the filing of her brother’s false tax returns.
Gay Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) has raised $353,ooo and has $166,000 in cash on hand. He’s not expected to face serious competition in his heavily Democratic district.
Federal Government
Protesters say SAVE Act targets voters, transgender youth
Bill described as ‘Jim Crow 2.0’
Members of Congress, advocates, and people from across the country gathered outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to protest proposed federal legislation that voting rights activists have deemed “Jim Crow 2.0.”
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require in-person proof of citizenship for anyone seeking to vote in U.S. elections.
President Donald Trump has also pushed for the proposed legislation to include a section that would ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, even with parental consent, and prohibit trans people from participating in school or professional sports consistent with their gender identity rather than their sex assigned at birth.
In addition to changing voter registration requirements, the bill would limit acceptable forms of identification to documents such as a birth certificate or passport — records that the Brennan Center for Justice estimates more than 21 million Americans do not have — effectively restricting access to the ballot. It would also ban online voter registration, DMV voter registration efforts, and mail-in voter registration.
A 2021 investigation by the Associated Press found that fewer than 475 people voted illegally or improperly, a tiny fraction of the estimated 160 million Americans who voted in the 2020 election.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) spoke at the event.
“It will kick millions of American citizens off the rolls. And they don’t even require you to be told,” the highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate told protesters and reporters outside the Capitol. “If this law passes — and it won’t — you’re gonna show up in November … and they’ll say… sorry, you’re no longer on the voting rolls.”
He, like many other speakers, emphasized the bill in the context of American history, pointing to what he described as its racist roots and its impact on Black and brown Americans.
“I have called this act, over and over again, Jim Crow 2.0 … because they know it’s the truth.”
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) was one of the lawmakers leading opposition to the legislation and spoke at the rally.
“It’s not just voting rights that are on the line — our democracy is on the line,” the California lawmaker said. “It’s not a voter I.D. bill. It’s a bait and switch bill.”
He added historical context, noting the significance of voting rights legislation passed more than 60 years ago. In 1965, Alabama civil rights activists marched to protest barriers to voter registration. Alabama state troopers violently attacked peaceful demonstrators at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, using tear gas, clubs, and whips against more than 500 — mostly Black — protesters.
“61 years ago — not to the day — but this week, President Lyndon Johnson came to the Capitol and addressed a joint session of Congress in the wake of Bloody Sunday and pushed Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act,” Padilla said. “61 years later, Donald Trump and this Republican majority wants to take us backwards. We’re not gonna let that happen.”
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) also spoke, emphasizing that he views the effort as a Republican-led and Trump-backed attempt to restrict voting access, particularly among Black, brown, and predominantly Democratic communities.
“President Trump told Republicans when they were meeting behind closed doors that ‘The SAVE Act will guarantee Republicans win the midterms and ensure they do not lose an election for 50 years,’” Luján said. “The first time I think Donald Trump’s been honest … This voter suppression bill is only that. Taking away vote by mail? I hope my Republican colleagues from states that voted for Donald Trump or where vote by mail is popular have the courage and the backbone to stand up and say no to this nonsense, because their constituents are going to push back.”
U.S. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) also spoke.
“Our Republican colleagues have already cut Medicaid, Medicare, people don’t know how they’re gonna be able to afford energy,” she said, providing context for the broader political moment. “We’re in the middle of a war that they can’t even get straight while we’re in it and don’t have a way to get out of it. And we are now faced with defending our democracy?”
She then showed the crowd something that she said has been with her throughout her political journey in Washington.
“I brought with me something that I carried on the day that I was sworn into the House of Representatives when I was elected in 2016, and I carried it with me on the day that I was sworn in as United States senator. And I also carried it with me when I was trapped up in the gallery on Jan. 6 and all I could think to do was pray … This document allowed my great great great grandfather, who had been enslaved in Georgia, to have the right to vote. We took this and turned it into a scarf. It is the returns of qualified voters and reconstruction code from 1867. This is my proof of what we’ve been through. This is also our inspiration.”
“I got to travel between the Edmund Pettus Bridge two times. And even as I thought about this moment, I recognized that while we wish we weren’t in it, while we don’t know why we’re in it, I do know we were made for it … So I came today to tell you that, um, just like the leader said, that he calls it Jim Crow 2.0. I call it Jim Crow 2.NO.”
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ advocacy organization in the U.S., also spoke, highlighting the impact of the bill’s proposed provisions affecting trans people.
“This bill is not about saving America. This bill is about stealing an election. This bill is about suppressing voters,” Robinson said. “This bill not only tries to disenfranchise voters that deserve their right to vote, it also tries to criminalize trans kids and their families … It tries to criminalize doctors providing medically necessary care for our trans youth.”
The SAVE Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Feb. 11 but has not yet been considered in the U.S. Senate.
Idaho
Idaho advances bill to restrict bathroom access for transgender residents
HB 752 passed in state House of Representatives on Monday
The Idaho House of Representatives passed House Bill 752 on Monday, a measure that would make it a crime for a person to use a bathroom other than the one designated for their “biological sex.”
The story was first reported by the Idaho Capitol Sun after the bill cleared the House.
House Bill 752 would make it a criminal offense — either a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the number of prior offenses — for individuals who “knowingly and willfully” enter a bathroom or changing room designated for the opposite sex.
The bill would apply to public buildings, including government-owned spaces, and places of “public accommodation,” a category that includes private businesses.
According to the bill’s text, it would “prohibit a person from entering a restroom or changing room designated for the opposite sex; provide a penalty; provide exceptions; define terms; and declare an emergency and provide an effective date.”
A first offense would be a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison. A second or subsequent offense within five years would be a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.
The bill passed in a 54–15 vote on Monday. Six Republicans broke with their party’s majority to join nine Democrats in opposing the measure.
The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Cornel Rasor, a Republican from Sagle near the Washington-Idaho border, told House lawmakers that the legislation is intended to protect women and girls.
“It prevents discomfort and voyeurism escalation and assaults, while preserving single-user options and narrow exceptions so no one is denied access for emergency aid,” Rasor said.
State Rep. Chris Mathias, a Democrat from Boise, disagreed, arguing that the legislation would unfairly target transgender Idahoans.
“The truth of the matter is — and I know a lot of people don’t want to say it — but forcing people who don’t look like the sex they were assigned at birth, or transgender folks, to use other people’s bathrooms is going to put a lot of people in danger,” Mathias said.
The Idaho American Civil Liberties Union made a statement about the bill following its passage.
“Idaho lawmakers continue pushing these harmful, invasive bathroom laws, yet cannot present credible evidence that transgender people using gender-aligned bathrooms threaten public safety,” the Idaho ACLU said. “The bill does nothing to address real criminal acts, such as sexual assault or voyeurism, and disregards concerns from law enforcement about the burden enforcement would place on local resources.”
In addition to human rights advocates, who have spoken out against similar bills advancing in state legislatures across the country, Idaho law enforcement groups have also opposed the measure. They argue that the way the legislation is written would “pose significant practical enforcement challenges,” noting that officers are tasked with maintaining public safety — not conducting gender checks or policing bathroom access.
During a committee hearing last week, law enforcement representatives and several trans Idahoans testified that the bill would make many residents less safe.
“Officers responding to a complaint would be placed in the difficult position of determining an individual’s biological sex in order to enforce the statute,” Idaho Fraternal Order of Police President Bryan Lovell wrote. “In many circumstances, there is no clear or reasonable way for officers to make that determination without engaging in questioning or investigative actions that could be viewed as invasive and inappropriate.”
The Idaho Sheriffs’ Association requested that lawmakers amend the bill to require that individuals be given an opportunity to leave a bathroom immediately before facing potential prosecution.
The bill now heads to the Idaho Senate for consideration. To become law, it must pass both chambers and avoid a veto from the governor.
A separate bathroom bill, House Bill 607, which would be enforced through civil lawsuits, passed the House last month but has not yet received a committee hearing in the Senate.
State Department
Report: US to withhold HIV aid to Zambia unless mineral access expanded
New York Times obtained Secretary of State Marco Rubio memo
The State Department is reportedly considering withholding assistance for Zambians with HIV unless the country’s government allows the U.S. to access more of its minerals.
The New York Times on Monday reported Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a memo to State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs staffers wrote the U.S. “will only secure our priorities by demonstrating willingness to publicly take support away from Zambia on a massive scale.” The newspaper said it obtained a copy of the letter.
Zambia is a country in southern Africa that borders Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Times notes upwards of 1.3 million Zambians receive daily HIV medications through PEPFAR. The newspaper reported Rubio in his memo said the Trump-Vance administration could “significantly cut assistance” as soon as May.
“Reports of (the) State Department withholding lifesaving HIV treatment in return for mining concessions in Zambia does not make us safer, stronger, or more prosperous,” said U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Tuesday. “Monetizing innocent people’s lives further undermines U.S. global leadership and is just plain wrong.”
The Washington Blade has reached out to the State Department for comment.
Zambia received breakthrough HIV prevention drug through PEPFAR
Rubio on Jan. 28, 2025, issued a waiver that allowed PEPFAR and other “life-saving humanitarian assistance” programs to continue to operate during a freeze on nearly all U.S. foreign aid spending. HIV/AIDS service providers around the world with whom the Blade has spoken say PEPFAR cuts and the loss of funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, which officially closed on July 1, 2025, has severely impacted their work.
The State Department last September announced PEPFAR will distribute lenacapavir in countries with high prevalence rates. Zambia two months later received the first doses of the breakthrough HIV prevention drug.
Kenya and Uganda are among the African countries have signed health agreements with the U.S. since the Trump-Vance administration took office.
The Times notes the countries that signed these agreements pledged to increase health spending. The Blade last month reported LGBTQ rights groups have questioned whether these agreements will lead to further exclusion and government-sanctioned discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
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