Election Day 2011: Liveblog
The Metro Weekly liveblog of tonight’s election!
[Read the “Races to Watch” from earlier today here.]
8:45 P.M. – VIRGINIA – Out gay Democrat Adam Ebbin wins in the 30th Senate District. With two-thirds of percent reporting, he’s up 70-30 to Republican Timothy McGhee. Ebben, currently serving in the House of Delegates, will be Virginia’s first out LGBT senator. Metro Weekly will have more on this race later tonight.
9:00 P.M. – VIRGINIA – Out gay Republican challenger Patrick Forrest is losing to incumbent Sen. Janet Howell (D-32), although just more than one-third of the precincts are counted. Howell is up 66-34.
9:25 P.M. – MASSACHUSETTS – Alex Morse, an out gay 22-year-old in Holyoke, Massachusetts, was just elected mayor of the 40,000-person town. The Victory Fund celebrated his victory, calling him the nation’s youngest gay mayor.
9:30 P.M. – INDIANA – Indianapolis gets its first out LGBT city council member, with Zach Adamson’s election, as noted by the Victory Fund.
9:45 P.M. – MAINE – Question One appears to be ending with same-day registration staying in Maine, as the Associated Press has called the race. The AP says the referendum campaign succeeded in overturning a Republican-passed bill to end such registration. From Talking Points Memo: “AP: Maine Voters Say Yes To Same Day Registration.”
10:05 P.M. – NEW YORK – From New York Times reporter Thomas Kaplan, “Rose Belforti, the upstate N.Y. town clerk who won’t sign [marriage] licenses [for same-sex couples], has won re-election.”
10:15 P.M. – MICHIGAN – According to the Traverse City Record-Eagle, “By a nearly two-to-one margin, the city voted 2,818 to 1,661 to keep the [city’s sexual orientation nondiscrimination] ordinance.” The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force’s executive director Rea Carey said in a news release, “The people of Traverse City have sent a clear message that they value their LGBT friends, neighbors, co-workers and family members and don’t want to see them left vulnerable to discrimination.”
10:30 P.M. – NEW JERSEY – Garden State Equality chair and chief executive officer Steven Goldstein tells Metro Weekly, “Of all 40 Senate seats up for election, there were two marquis state Senate races, so closely fought, and the odds were against both of the pro-marriage equality Democrats winning. Both won. [They are Sens. Bob Gordon (D-38) and Jim Whelan (D-2).] We also picked up a pro-marriage equality seat in another district that went from an anti-marriage equality Democrat who retired to a pro-marriage equality Democrat elected tonight. And, Garden State Equality member Dr. Tim Eustace was elected to the Asssembly tonight — the second openly LGBT legislator in New Jersey history.” Eustance joins Assemblymember Reed Gusciora, who won re-election tonight.
11:00 P.M. – OHIO – With more than 99 percent of precincts reporting, Chris Seelbach will be the first out LGBT member of Cincinnati City Council. He finished ninth of 23 candidates on the ballot. The top nine vote-getters are elected to Council, and Seelbach garnered more than 1,000 votes more than the 10th-place vote-getter.
11:05 P.M. – IOWA – The Iowa Independent reports that the “final” results in the balance-of-power state Senate special election race went to the Democrat, Liz Mathis. With 55.8 percent of the vote, she bested Republican Cindy Golding, who received 43.52 percent of the vote. Mathis’s victory means the state Senate stays in Democratic control, stopping an attempt at reversing marriage equality in the state. Freedom to Marry president Evan Wolfson said in a statement, “The voters rebuffed the anti-gay attacks that sought to make undoing the freedom to marry a critical factor in the race, and instead elected a candidate who supports the freedom to marry for all Iowa families. One Iowa worked hard to make sure that marriage remains secure in Iowa and to elect a legislator who will focus on the real challenges confronting the state.”
11:25 P.M. – MORE ON IOWA – According to a release from the Human Rights Campaign, “HRC contributed to Liz Mathis’ victory by placing five full-time field organizers in the 18th Senate District during the final weeks of the campaign.”
11:45 P.M. – TEXAS – With more than 99 percent of the precincts counted, out lesbian Houston Mayor Annise Parker appears to have won re-election with no run-off, defeating five challengers. With 50.85 percent of the vote for Parker, her nearest challenger stands at 14.81 percent of the vote.
11:55 P.M. – ARIZONA – Daniel Hernandez Jr., the out gay intern for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) who was praised as a hero for his efforts when the congresswoman was shot, was elected to his local school board tonight.
2:30 A.M. NOV. 9 – CALIFORNIA – In San Francisco, out gay former supervisor Bevan Dufty was trailing five other challengers to Mayor Ed Lee — who was ahead of all the challengers. City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who received some organized LGBT support, was running in third. Although Lee was not going to garner 50 percent with the initial ballot, the city’s multiple, ranked-choice balloting meant, according to the Los Angeles Times, that he was heading toward being elected to a full term.
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
