At an evening campaign rally for Howard Dean's presidential bid, former Vermont Auditor Ed Flanagan told Out in the Mountains that he will run for the state Senate representing Chittenden County next year. "I have been asked to run by Senate leaders and I will run," he said.
      Flanagan, an attorney, was first elected State Auditor in 1992. In a 1995 Associated Press interview, he publicly came out as a gay man. He made national history when, in 1996, he became the first openly gay statewide elected official in the United States. In 2000, Flanagan became the first openly gay major party candidate to run for the U.S. Senate, a race he lost to incumbent Senator James Jeffords.
      If successful next year, Flanagan would be Vermont's first openly gay state Senator.
      Openly gay state Rep. Bill Lippert (D-Hinesburg) also said he will run for re-election.
      Lippert, who was originally appointed to his seat in the Vermont House by former Governor Howard Dean, said Dean's candidacy is good for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Americans. "There is a tremendous energy behind the Dean campaign," Lippert told OITM. "Howard Dean put himself on the line for the gay and lesbian community in a way that no other elected official has, and he has been steadfast in that support."
      Flanagan also expressed enthusiasm for Dean's campaign. "He would be the natural next step from (President) Clinton's candidacy," he said. "Clinton took us through a lot of initial barriers and I think Howard Dean, having taken the initiative on gay and lesbian rights in Vermont, would bring that issue to the national stage."

Paul Olsen also writes for the Boston-based In Newsweekly and lives in Colchester.