Out men dominate LGBTQ CA legislative races
It was a good night Tuesday for out male legislative candidates in California. Of the dozen LGBTQ contenders who survived their primary contests, just three were female.Two more female candidates are hoping the counting of additional ballots will lead to their advancing to the November general election, while the campaigns of three male and one nonbinary candidate are now over.
Based on the results of the June 7 races, it appears the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus could grow from its current eight members to having a record 15 members, at least, in the next legislative session.In the East Bay race for the open 20th Assembly District seat, gay Dublin City Councilmember Shawn Kumagai was in second place with 25% of the primary vote, according to the unofficial returns Wednesday.
Should his standing hold then he is poised to compete in the fall against labor leader Liz Ortega, who is straight and landed in first place with 31.1% of the vote.Gay nurse and union leader Jennifer Esteen was in fourth place with 20.8% of the vote behind Republican Joseph Grcar, who was in third with 23.1% of the vote.
The quartet was vying to succeed Assemblymember Bill Quirk (D-Hayward), who opted against seeking reelection and endorsed Ortega in the Alameda County contest.Should Kumagai win the seat in the fall, the Navy veteran would be the first LGBTQ legislator of Japanese descent in Sacramento.
