Features
Gay Men Run For VT House and Senate
Gay Men Run for VT House and Senate
Ed Flanagan (L) and partner Isaac Lustgarten
by Euan Bear
Depending
on the outcome of the November elections, the gay caucus in the Vermont
House of Representatives could double. Jason Lorber, a Democrat running
for the Burlington seat vacated by Progressive Steve Hingten (running
for lieutenant governor), and Steve Howard, a Democrat running from Rutland,
would join incumbent Democrats Bill Lippert of Hinesburg and Robert Dostis
of Waterbury, assuming they are re-elected.
In Vermont the entire legislature and all
holders of statewide office face re-election every two years.
A consultant for nonprofit organizations,
particularly in healthcare, Lorber is also a stand-up comedian. He moved
to Vermont from California two years ago. His partner, Nathaniel Lew,
is a professor at St. Michael's College.
Lorber and incumbent Democrat John Tracy
face two Progressive opponents in the two-seat Chittenden 3-3 district:
Barbara Nolfi, a long-time resident and activist and former four-term
member of the Burlington City Council, and Beckie Taylor, a relative newcomer
to Burlington, having moved here four years ago. No Republicans are running
in the district.
He cites health care as his primary issue.
"Healthcare comes up over and over in conversations door to door,"
Lorber said. "People in this district talk about how they have to
choose between having healthcare or buying groceries. The first step is
to acknowledge the value of having everyone insured for healthcare. My
background is in working with national, statewide, regional and local
organizations on healthcare issues."
Incumbent Democratic Rep. Bill Lippert,
faces Republican Margery Sharpe, also of Hinesburg. Lippert is a veteran
of four-plus terms in the House, first appointed in 1994 by then-Governor
Howard Dean, and re-elected in his own right. Sharpe has been active locally
in Hinesburg with the Lions Club and the Farmers' Market.
Lippert said he feels he has a strong record
to run on. Looking ahead, he wants to work on issues of mental health,
substance abuse, healthcare, and HIV/AIDS. "I've spent a great deal
of time and energy fighting for [equal] marriage and against harassment.
I will be redirecting some of my attention toward healthcare issues."
He cited the "deteriorating" system of substance abuse and accessible
mental health services and characterized the de-certification of the State
Hospital in Waterbury as "emblematic" of a broken system.
Incumbent Democrat Robert Dostis lives in
Waterbury and represents a district that straddles the Washington and
Chittenden County line, including Huntington, Waterbury, Duxbury, and
Buel's Gore. The two-term representative has been campaigning almost since
the moment the legislature adjourned, going door to door in his wide-spread
and mountainous district.
When he's not in the legislature, he is
director of the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger, a position he
has held for 5 years. He connects particularly strongly to youth and childhood
issues, having spent time in his own childhood in the fostercare system.
Dostis is one of only two legislators nationwide who is a nutritionist,
which gives him a unique perspective on health issues.
The issue he hears repeatedly in his door-to-door
campaigning is early education and affordable childcare. His record in
the last session of the legislature was established in the Commerce Committee,
where he was vice chair. "We have focused on the environment, responsible
development - not sprawl - concentrated in village centers. What we need
is renewable energy, windpower, conservation."
Steve Howard, a former Democratic member
of the Vermont House, has been a tenant organizer in Rutland, and was
working on highway safety issues nationally. His primary campaign issues
are economic reform for the middle class and universal healthcare. "It
is unfair to employers to have to bear expense of healthcare," Howard
said. He has been campaigning door to door since June and says he’s
finding and registering lots of previously uninvolved citizens.
In the Senate
Former state auditor Ed Flanagan hopes to
become Vermont's first openly gay Senator. If he succeeds, it would not
be his first groundbreaking office. When he was auditor, he was the country's
first openly gay state elected official. Flanagan was elected auditor
in 1992, came out publicly in 1995, and continued to hold the office until
he left to run against then-Republican U.S. Senator James Jeffords in
2000 and was defeated in a lopsided vote. In 2002, Flanagan ran for state
treasurer against fellow Democrat and former state Senator Jeb Spaulding,
who won both the primary and the election. Since then Flanagan has been
practicing law.
Flanagan is one of a six-member Democratic
slate facing four Republicans for six Senate seats from Chittenden County.
Flanagan's recent experience with nursing homes - his mother was a resident
while healing from injuries suffered in a car accident last year - has
led him to embrace elder and health care as significant issues. In a spring
letter to friends and supporters, he cited drug and insurance costs, support
for small business, and livable wages as among his concerns.
While campaigning this fall, Flanagan will
also be teaching students at Champlain College in a course called "Social
Injustice in a Diverse Society." The course, which examines prejudice
against marginalized groups, was set up before the former auditor knew
he would be running for office.