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Express Gay News reports on Victory Fund endorsement of Mark LaFontaine

From Express Gay News :

The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, the nation’s largest GLBT political action committee, formally endorsed Mark LaFontaine for State Representative in District 92, LaFontain announce last week.

LaFontaine is facing Gwyndolen Clarke-Reed and Scott Newton, mayor of Wilton Manors, for the district seat.  He gathered 694 petition signatures from throughout the distirict, almost 80 more than required to qualify for the Aug. 26 primary election.

Because there is no Republican running, the seat will be determined on the primary election day, although the winner won’t begin serving until 2009.

If elected, LaFontaine will be the first openly gay official elected to the Florida Legislature. He is a veteran of the US Coast Guard  and spent most of his youth involved in Boy Scouts, eventually rising to the rank of Eagle Scout. He was later instrumental in opposing Boy Scout policies that discriminated against gay boy scouts or scout masters.

The Victory Fund is dedicated to increasing the number of openly GLBT elected official at all levels of government. Each year the organization endorses dozens of gay, lesbian and transgender candidates. The organization had previously withheld endorsing anyone in the District 92 race because another gay candidate, Gary Resnick, was also running for the same position. Resnick dropped out of the race recently to run for Mayor in Wilton Manors.

According to Victory Fund bylaws, the organization remains neutral when more than one gay candidate is running for a given seat.

However, the fund does not automatically endorse all gay candidates. According to Dennis Dison, the organization’s communications director, candidates are thoroughly screened and vetted to determine whether they have a realistic chance of being a strong contender.

To qualify, GLBT candidates must fill out at least two very detailed applications. Many don’t make it through the process.

LaFontaine said he was happy to accept the Victory Fund endorsement. He is being supported by the Dolphin Democrats, Rep. Kelly Skidmore (D. Boca Raton), and famed Congressman Barney Frank.

“I am please to accept the endorsement of the Victory Fund, because their track record of supporting winning candidates underscores the momentum my campaign has achieved,” LaFontaine said. “Florida has never elected an openly GLBT representative to Tallahassee and this endorsement, plus our strong petition drive brings us one step closer to making history.”

Rep. Jack Seiler currently holds the office, but due to term limits he is running for mayor of Fort Lauderdale. The district stretches along the east side of Broward County from parts Fort Lauderdale to Boca Raton including communities of Wilton Manors, Oakland Park, Deerfield Beach, North Lauderdale, Lazy Lake, Poinsettia Heights, Tamarac and Pompano Beach.

According to  US Census there are nearly 135,000 people who live in the district. It has a strong Democratic Party voting base, with 53.3 percent of registered voters voting Democrat.